Mystery Underwear Found Near Teen's Body

Feb. 20, 2008— -- It's a troubling piece of evidence but one that authorities in Reno, Nev., hope will help end the search for a serial rapist whose crime spree has gripped the casino town with fear.

Four days after the body of 19-year-old Brianna Denison was found in a vacant field in southeast Reno, authorities announced that they found a distinctive pair of women's thong-style underwear near the college student's body. The dark-colored panties, which featured stitchings of the Pink Panther as well as pink hearts, did not belong to Denison.

"The underwear is very distinctive," the Reno Police Department said in a Tuesday evening release. "It is described as having the caricatures of the head of the Pink Panther and hearts on a black cotton field."

Forensic evidence analyzed by the Washoe County Sheriff's Office showed that the underwear had traces of DNA from another unknown female, as well as DNA from the man suspected in Denison's disappearance and at least three other sexual assaults in recent months. The connected attacks have police convinced a serial rapist is at work in Reno, targeting college-aged women.

"It could have been left by accident or fell out of the car when he unloaded Brianna," Reno Police Lt. Robert McDonald told ABC News. "Or he may have left it behind on purpose. We don't know for sure."

McDonald said that Reno police are considering the possibility that the suspected rape and murder suspect is intentionally taunting authorities. While it is impossible to say for sure that the underwear was left as some kind of message, McDonald said there's no doubt about the urgency to make an arrest.

"This man is dangerous," McDonald said. "There is nothing more dangerous I can think of as a predator who prowls at night and looks for crimes of opportunity. And he's preying on women who are substantially smaller and weaker than he is."