News for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Back To The Starting Line For DPD In Lake Highlands Sexual Assaults Investigation

BJ Austin
/
KERA News

DNA evidence has cleared the suspect arrested by Dallas Police in the first of three sexual assaults in the same Lake Highlands neighborhood.

Dallas Police Major Jeff Cotner says the DNA from the February 22nd attack at a Ferndale home does not belong to Fernando Munoz.  He says that does not necessarily mean the same person is responsible for all three attacks.

“I don’t know if it’s a serial rapist," Cotner told reporters.  "I have three unsolved offenses in the Lake Highlands area roughly within a month.  They’re all related in that they’re sexual assault offenses. It’s yet to be determined if it’s the same person that’s responsible.” 

Cotner says there are some differences in the description by victims. He says detectives have received several calls on a special tip line, and investigators are working all-out to solve these cases.

Former KERA reporter BJ Austin spent more than 25 years in broadcast journalism, anchoring and reporting in Atlanta, New York, New Orleans and Dallas. Along the way, she covered Atlanta City Hall, the Georgia Legislature and the corruption trials of Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards.