Riley County police say rumors of serial rapist unfounded

The Riley County Police Department says social media rumors of a serial rapist are unfounded, but are encouraging anyone who is a victim of a crime to call them.

“We’ve been contacted by several students, parents and citizens in the community and want to take a minute to clear up some rumors and hopefully ease some minds,” the department said in a Facebook post. “These individuals have reported a serial rapist preying on members of the community.”

A text message has been spread in the community saying, “Last night 11th and thurston, break in with gun and mask and rape. They are messing with the water/breaker boxes to reel the girls in another a couple blocks down a girl came home to a guy waiting in her bed like with her retainers on.”

However, the department says in the past several months, they haven’t worked any case or received any reports where a person wearing a mask broke into a home with a gun and raped a person.

“This report has been circulating on social media and through text and is untrue to our knowledge,” they said. “We’ve made multiple attempts to find the source of the information, but have been unable to.”

Police are encouraging any potential victims to come forward so they can investigate.

“The safety and security of our community is our top priority,” they said. “Part of that includes keeping our citizens informed with the crimes that are and are not happening in our cities.”

The Riley County Police Department can be reached at 785-537-2112.

This story was originally published October 24, 2017 at 10:54 AM with the headline "Riley County police say rumors of serial rapist unfounded."