Cab Driver Sought in Slaying of NY Grad Student

March 2, 2006 — -- Police have released a sketch of a potential suspect in the rape and slaying of a New York graduate student, the same day her family offered a $30,000 reward for information leading to the killer's arrest.

Police found Imette St. Guillen's naked body wrapped in a floral blanket on the side of an East New York highway on Saturday after an anonymous 911 call. The 24-year-old woman had been brutally raped, her face had been wrapped in tan masking tape, and her hands and feet bound with shoelaces and wire. A sock was stuffed in her mouth, and her hair chopped off on one side.

The sketch shows a New York City cabdriver described as having a dark complexion, possibly Middle Eastern, and in his 30s. The driver allegedly sexually assaulted another young woman at knife point before dropping her off in the same area where St. Guillen's body was dumped. There is no hard evidence yet that links the two attacks.

St. Guillen was last seen alone having a drink at a trendy Soho bar around 4 a.m. Saturday. She reportedly walked there from another bar about 30 minutes earlier. Police are investigating the 25 security cameras she could have passed on her walk.

St. Guillen was studying forensic psychology at John Jay College in New York, and was four months' shy of a master's degree in criminal justice.

The college has established a scholarship in her name.

"Imette was an outstanding student at John Jay College," college President Jeremy Travis said in a statement on the school's Web site. "She was on our dean's list, and most certainly would have been a charter member of this new honor society. It is fitting that these student leaders have created this scholarship as one of their first official acts."

St. Guillen would have been 25 today. Her family is planning her wake.

"This heartache is unbelievable," said Alejandra St. Guillen, Imette's sister. "No family deserves this."

ABC News Affiliate WABC contributed to this report.