CANFIELD One year later, rape remains unsolved

The detective said solving the case is his department's top priority.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- Detective Sgt. Andy Bodzak has helped fill four thick white binders with information about one of the most violent crimes in Canfield history -- a crime that occurred one year ago last Tuesday.
Yet he still doesn't have the information he needs to solve the case.
So Bodzak is thinking about returning to the scene of that crime -- a wooded area near North Broad Street -- where he might still find evidence that would help identify the man who beat and raped a Poland woman.
"I think we're going to start all over and go right back to the crime scene again," he said. "We want to make sure that we didn't overlook anything."
The crime: The woman, 30, was attacked around 7 a.m. as she got out of her car to go to work at an accounting firm on North Broad. She was beaten with a baseball bat and raped in the wooded area near the business.
Police do not have a suspect in the attack.
Bodzak noted that during the last year, police have filled four binders with photographs, lab reports, interview transcripts and other information about the case. The case remains the department's top priority; each day detectives are working to find the attacker, he said.
The investigation has included interviews with area sex offenders, as well as examinations of sex crime reports from around the country to see if the Canfield attacker is striking elsewhere. Detectives also are working to find anyone who might recognize the bat used in the attacks.
Bodzak noted he was disappointed that the $10,000 reward Canfield City Council is offering for information leading to the arrest of the attacker hasn't done more to help the investigation.
The reward was issued in May, just after Bodzak announced that detectives had found the bat used in the attack.
Detectives have received 10 calls as a result of the reward, Bodzak said. Five of those calls were from local residents who claimed they had the bat used in the attack, even though police actually had the bat.
Difficulties: Bodzak said detectives understand the case will be difficult to solve. Police haven't found any witnesses to the attack, and the attacker wore gloves and a ski mask, he said.
"I think all investigators have to view this as a challenge," Bodzak said. However, he also said that because of the pace of the investigation, he is optimistic it will be solved.
"If there ever is a day where we come in here and there is nothing to do toward this report, then I would feel less optimistic, but that has not been the case," he said, adding, "Hopefully, we won't be discussing this next year."
hill@vindy.com