UPDATE: Shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday, the Hopkinsville Police Department announced it had made an arrest in the rape reported Tuesday on the city’s rail-trail.
Police charged Jason Morse, 43, with first-degree rape, strangulation and tampering with physical evidence. His address was not listed.
“We want to thank all the citizens that reached out to us with information about this case and those citizens that allowed our officers to view their cameras to help identify and locate Jason Morse,” HPD said in a Facebook post.
A young adult woman was attacked Tuesday afternoon on Hopkinsville’s rail-trail by a man who dragged her into a wooded area and raped her, Police Chief Clayton Sumner said.
The assault occurred around 5:30 p.m. along the southern portion of the trail between the Holiday Park and Hunting Creek subdivisions, he said. After the man ran from the scene, the woman was able to go for help.
The woman told police the attacker was a white male wearing a white T-shirt and stone-washed blue jeans.
“He came up from behind her and grabbed her around the neck,” Sumner told Hoptown Chronicle.
At mid-day Wednesday, police were continuing to search for the man.
Officials posted two photos on the Hopkinsville Police Department’s Facebook page of a man described as a “possible witness” to the crime. He is wearing the clothing described by the victim. Sumner said the photos were shot Tuesday by a surveillance camera near the Pardue Lane dog park that is adjacent to the rail-trail.
Anyone who recognizes the man is asked to call HPD at 270-890-1500.
The attack occurred during a time when many walkers, joggers and bicyclists are typically on the rail-trail. Sumner said the time of the attack was concerning and he speculated that the attacker might have been waiting for a moment when no one else was around to see him.
The victim was taken to Jennie Stuart Medical Center by ambulance. Additional information about her condition was not immediately available.
The rail-trail is part of the Hopkinsville Greenway System. It runs from a trailhead at North Drive to Foston Chapel Road.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
