Officials: Woman Selling Cell Phone On Craigslist Raped In Muskogee

Muskogee County Sheriff's Office is searching for a Craigslist rapist.

Investigators said it all started when a Tulsa woman in her 20s tried to sell a cellphone on Craigslist.

"They met at a store. He said he had needed to show his wife the phone and to get his money," Coletta Peyton, Muskogee County Sheriff Investigator, said.

Peyton said the victim followed the man to a house, tucked away in the county.

The garage is boarded up and it's clear the house is vacant.

Jennifer Russell lives next door.

"We were just sitting there watching TV and I heard the doorbell go off and I thought it was my sister, Russell said. "When I opened the door, there was a girl and she was just in a brown coat and her underwear. That was it."

Investigators said the woman told them the man held a Taser to her neck then raped her.

"He took her clothes, her purse, her keys and everything. She had a gun in her purse that was also stolen," Peyton said.

People who live here describe the area as calm, peaceful. Russell said her sense of security is now rattled.

"I keep thinking about it. I try not to think about it, but I do think about it. Everybody's really nice around here and they watch out for each other, but just having that happen so close to the house is scary."

The victim described the suspect as a man, possibly mixed race, 200 pounds, between 18 and 25 years old. The victim told investigators the man was driving a black Lexus with Oklahoma plates.

Details in this case are similar to two other cases from earlier this year.

Muskogee Police tell News On 6 that in January, an out-of-town woman met a man to buy a TV she'd seen on Craigslist. They said the man robbed her at gunpoint.

Police said, one month later another out-of-town woman was kidnapped and raped by a man she met through the internet. Police said a man was arrested, but prosecutors decided to not press charges. Police would next explain why that happened.

"If you're going to meet somebody trying to sell something on Craigslist, you don't know who you're meeting. People should be concerned," Peyton said.

If you have any information, call the sheriff's office at 918-687-0202.