Possible serial rapist sought in St. Louis

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ST. LOUIS, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- St. Louis-area police say they are hunting for a possible serial rapist who may be targeting Asian women.

Police said Tuesday the latest sexual assault was of a woman of Chinese descent on Sept. 19 and it was linked by DNA evidence to an April 2011 attack of a woman of Korean descent. The attacker, described as Hispanic, matched the description of a man who grabbed a woman of Indian descent in June 2011, but fled when she screamed.

All three incidents occurred within a 5-mile radius, police said. Authorities also are looking into any links to other sexual assaults, including similar attacks in California, New York and Maryland. No other DNA matches have been found, however.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday police are reaching out to Asian and Hispanic cultural groups to inform them of the attacks.

"In 32 years in this business, when you have someone involved in a pattern like this, they continue. They don't stop," St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch said.