A woman jogger who told police she was raped Sunday in Fairmount Park, said her attacker called out to her as if he knew her. It's the second sexual assault in the park in less than two weeks.
The two attacks do not appear to be connected and right now investigator say they don't believe the Fairmount Park rapist is behind either assault.
Sunday's attack happened in the Strawberry Mansion section of the city around 7:30 a.m. near the 3800 block of Edgely Drive just north of the East Park Reservoir, police said.
The woman, 21, said she noticed a man following her from the 3200 block of York Street.
"The male called out to her as if he knew her. She turned around and immediately determined that this was not someone that she knew," said Philadelphia Police Captain John Darby. The woman told police the suspect forced her into the woods and sexually assaulted her. She flagged down an officer after the attack.
Police describe the rapist as a black man, 40 to 50 years old, 5-feet-6 to 5-feet-8 with a dark complexion, a beard and mustache and black and gray hair, very close-cropped, almost balding at the top. He was wearing a blue shirt and blue jean shorts.
"We're not sure if it has anything to do with anything else going on," Lt. Frank Vanore, police spokesman told The Daily News.
On Aug. 11, a woman was stashing her purse under the seat of her car in a parking lot near Forbidden Drive when a man forced her into a brushy area and raped her, according to police.
That attack happened about 6:30 p.m. near Bells Mill Road. The victim in this case was not able to give a visual description of her attacker, investigators said. Police say she did tell them he was wearing white gardening gloves, dirty jeans and work boots.
That attack happened two years to the day of the last attack by the Fairmount Park rapist, who is still on the loose. DNA has connected him to four attacks in the park between 2003 and 2007. One victim, Rebecca Park, was murdered.
Google Maps shows the two most recent attacks are about eight miles apart:
