The Hunt for 'Britain's Most Wanted Man'

His break-ins seem to follow a pattern, and he has a number of trademarks that have made it easier to link his crimes. He sits in rear gardens peering through windows to make sure the elderly person is living alone. Then after forcing himself into the house late at night, he goes on to disable the electricity before he wakes his victims by shinning a flashlight in their faces.

The stalker can spend hours in the house and sometimes establishes a connection with his subject. He has been described as soft-spoken, polite and displaying feelings of tenderness toward his victims. Although he doesn't often steal much money, he can put his victims through drawn out, horrific ordeals. The Minstead rapist will also often lie dormant for long periods and then strike a number of times before disappearing again, sometimes for years.

Detective Morgan explained to ABC News that the man is like no other burglar in the country. "He really does have a distinctive approach," he said. "What you need to bear in mind is that breaking into houses at night is quite a rare type of crime, breaking in and staying with the victim, waking them up and interacting with them is very rare and then demanding a sexual element is in its extremes."

During the burglaries there have been four confirmed rapes and 26 indecent assaults. But Morgan believes there could be more. "There are at least two victims who have said that they were burgled but were not sexually assaulted and after they've died their daughters have come forward and said mum was raped," he said.

Criminal profilers working on the investigation have called the man a gerontophile, someone who seeks sexual gratification in the elderly. Morgan said profilers believe this could have stemmed from an experience he had when he was a young man. "He will have had a sexual encounter with an old person and this is either something that he enjoys or is revenge for that elderly attack."

This case has relied heavily on forensic testing, the expertise of criminal profilers and taken up hours of officers time. Detectives even flew to Trinidad in 2006 to make an appeal for information after forensic tests showed the suspect originally came from the Windward Islands.

But even with an $80,000 reward for leading to his identification, the man is still on the loose.