On Saturday an unidentified man entered a Lorimar Town Home and reportedly raped a 20-year-old female KU student.

According to a Lawrence Police Department media release, the sexual assault occurred about 3:30 a.m. and the suspect’s whereabouts were unknown.

The attack was the fifth in what the media release said could be a series, and it was the second rape that had occurred in Lawrence this month. The police department is encouraging women to take preventative measures including planning escape routes from their residences in case of an attack.

The media release said that in each of the cases that could be a part of a series, the suspect was described as a slim, white man between the ages of 25 and 40 and between 5-feet-9 inches and 6 feet tall. He was also said to be armed with a weapon and entered the apartments between 3 and 4 a.m.

On June 13, 2006 an unidentified man entered a residence in central Lawrence and sexually assaulted a 21-year-old woman. On December 29, 2004 an unidentified man entered a north central residence and raped two females, ages 19 and 20. On July 14, 2004 an unidentified male entered a residence in southwest Lawrence and raped a KU student.

Kim Murphree, of the Lawrence Police Department, said the department could not release any further information regarding the motives or evidence involved in the attacks. She said Kansas law prohibits the release of any information that might identify the victim of a sexual crime. Lorimar Town Homes refused to comment on the incident.

A KU junior who is a resident of Lorimar Town Homes, 3801 Clinton Parkway, and did not want to be named because of the circumstances of the crime, said she stayed at a friend’s house the night the rape occurred. She said that when she returned home the next day, she was still questioned by the police. She said the police wanted to make sure residents did not know the rapist.

The student said the police would not give her any information about the rape, but she said she thought the man broke in, because the officer who interviewed her said that she and her roommates should look out for each other.

She said the police department was very thorough in its investigation. She said it looked through residents’ trash and dug up suspicious-looking footprints.

The student said the severity of the crime did not hit her until she noticed that police had flagged footprints near her back door, which she said was in major need of repair.

“It was like CSI, but too real,” the student said. “Like something you see on TV but you don’t want to happen to you.”

The student also said she thought the FBI was involved. She said police department vehicles and a white trailer were parked at the complexes from the time the crime was reported until she and her roommates left at 9:30 p.m. the following evening. She said that when they returned, the police were gone and everything was cleaned up like nothing had happened.

“I think that was the most eerie feeling – to come home that night still not knowing what happened,” she said.

She said that she felt like rape was becoming a problem in Lawrence and that it needed more awareness because the suspect has not been caught and was armed.

Randi Jordt, a Leavenworth junior who lives in southwest Lawrence, said it worried her that the police had not caught the rapist. She said she would no longer walk to her car alone at night.

Lauren Punch, Eden Prairie, Minn., sophomore, said she was nervous about a rapist being on the loose because she knew many people walked home drunk. She said it would be easy for a rapist to follow girls home and return at another time to rape them.

“Like my house. Six girls – take your pick,” Punch said.

Kelly Lacombe, Bloomington, Minn., sophomore, said she was not worried about being raped because she lived at Alpha Chi Omega, which houses more than 80 girls.

However, Lacombe said she thought it was scary that a rapist was on the loose in Lawrence because it was not a community she would consider dangerous.

The Lorimar Town House resident said her neighborhood seemed very safe beforehand. She said there was a large quantity of lights in the neighborhood. She said she had the landlord fix her door since the rape. She also said that she has started carrying pepper spray and that she was now terrified to be at home alone.

— Edited by Jessica Sain-Baird