CLAYTON St. Louis County police believe a serial rapist is targeting Asian women in northwestern St. Louis County and possibly elsewhere in the country.

Detectives found DNA evidence linking the rapes of two women in separate attacks to the same man, said county Police Chief Tim Fitch. But the culprit's identity has not been determined.

Fitch said it may be significant that one victim is of Chinese descent and the other Korean.

"This is the kind of stuff that will keep us awake at night: Some stranger out there attacking innocent victims," Fitch said. "That is why it's so important to let the public know to be on guard and let us know if you have information to help us catch the guy because we also know people like this just don't stop."

The first incident took place about 1:45 a.m. April 4, 2011, at the Beau Jardine apartment complex along the 10300 block of Sannois Drive. In that case, the victim, 27, said her attacker put a blanket over her head while she was asleep in her home and sexually assaulted her. There were no signs of forced entry to the second-floor apartment, but she told police she couldn't recall whether she had locked her door.

The other attack occurred Sept. 19 and involved a woman, 18, who said she was grabbed from behind while walking on a sidewalk near Fee Fee and Bennington roads in northwestern St. Louis County. The victim told police she was walking home from a friend's house when she was taken to a grassy area about 20 feet from the sidewalk.

The locations are within five miles of each other.

"Generally speaking, serial rapists do their homework on their victims before they attack," Fitch said. "We have every reason to believe this guy isn't just driving up the road and attacking the first woman he sees."

Fitch also said similar reports going back several years have surfaced in San Diego, New York and in Maryland involving a man targeting Asian women.

"We're trying to determine if this a transient person, who is moving from city to city for a job, and see if there are links in those other cases," he said. "That makes it even more difficult to catch someone when they're mobile like that. But it could turn out that he was born and raised here as well."

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DNA links two rapes in St. Louis County, may be more nationally