Woman says she was bound, gagged and sexually assaulted

Police are searching for a man they say sexually assaulted a woman on Labor Day.

The assault happened at around 4 a.m. in far Northeast El Paso on the 11600 block Dyer Street.

Relatives of the victim told ABC-7 they’ve seen the man in the area before.

Wednesday at the Van Horne Estate apartments everything seems quite and peaceful but early Monday morning it was a different story for a woman who went for a walk and noticed a man in the area.

“While she was returning home, seconds after she passed that man, that man backtracked and covered her mouth,” said the victim’s relative.

The relative who lives with the victim tells ABC-7 he doesn’t want to be identified.
He believes he’s seen the attacker around the apartment complex before. He said the victim was near a dark road and explains the aggressive attack saying the attacker grabbed her hair by the roots.

“He dragged her into the desert where he bonded her, tied her up and held her captive for two hours while he sexually assaulted her,” said the victim’s relative.

The victim told ABC-7 she did hear a few words from her alleged attacker.

The victims relative said, “He told her that if she tried to escape he would kill her and to comply or else she would die.”

The relative says once she was set free it wasn’t the last she saw him.

“She found someone passing by, stopped them in the middle of the road and while she was being brought back to our home she saw him enter our apartment complex,” said the relative.

The victim says she was able to see her attacker. She created a composite sketch
saying he was a Hispanic man in his late teens early 20’s about 5 feet 8 inches tall. She also mentioned he was slightly overweight, weighing about 200 pounds.

They made a flyer themselves and are passing it around the complex.

“Don’t think this won’t happen to you. It can happen to anyone. Everybody always says that when it’s too late so always have youre precautions,” said the relative.

Police tell ABC-7 the case is under investigation and if you recognize the man or have any information please call police immediately.