May 10, 2011
Assault victim's family offering $10,000 reward
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The family of a Southern Illinois University Carbondale student who was sexually assaulted early Sunday, May 8, is offering a $10,000 reward in connection with the case.
The family is offering the reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the suspect in the attack, said Russell Thomas, a police officer with SIUC’s Department of Public Safety. The reward is in addition to any reward from Crime Stoppers, Thomas said.
The sexual assault occurred on the east side of Faner Hall on Sunday, May 8, between 3 and 3:15 a.m. The 19-year-old victim told police she was walking from the 800 block of East Park Street and had reached the Faner Hall breezeway when she was assaulted by a tall black male wearing a white long-sleeve hooded T-shirt and khaki, tan or cream-colored pants. The victim was able to escape to the parking lot west of Lawson Hall, where she was able to flag down a police officer. She was taken to Memorial Hospital of Carbondale for treatment.
The investigation is continuing, Thomas said.
Surveillance video in the vicinity shows a subject fitting the description walking west along the sidewalk behind the victim, and then several minutes later walking in the opposite direction along the sidewalk toward the pedestrian overpass near the Brush Towers area.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the SIUC Department of Public Safety at 618/453-3771 or call the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 618/549-COPS.
Police remind members of the campus community to be aware of their surroundings at all times and if traveling at night, to use the Saluki Express, Night Safety Transit Service and the Brightway Path.
For more information on safety precautions, visit the Department of Public Safety website at http://www.dps.siu.edu.