What to Know
- Rowlett police continued to search Tuesday for a man who broke into a woman's home, masturbated and left nude photos and notes behind.
- Police want neighbors to review surveillance video for a man walking the neighborhood around the time of the burglary.
- Police said they don't believe the woman knew the burglar. Police have not found prior evidence of stalking or threats against the woman.
Rowlett police continued the search on Tuesday for a burglar who broke into a woman's home, masturbated in her bedroom and left photos of his genitals behind.
"We took a secondary look at the crime scene today and we're not going to leave any stone unturned," Detective Cruz Hernandez said.
Detectives returned to the neighborhood and went door-to-door with fliers, and asked for information. Police want neighbors to review surveillance video for a man walking the neighborhood around the time of the burglary.
Police said the man got in through a window of a home on Eton Drive last Wednesday. The victim said she left for work around 7 a.m. and returned at 6 p.m. to find her bedroom ransacked.
Police do not believe the woman knew the burglar. There were no previous threats or signs of stalking before the break-in, police said.
"This is a red flag for us," Hernandez said. "The intent that we find in this type of burglary is an intent to harm. It can escalate to something physical."
Police are concerned about the man's next moves.
"The potential of escalation is our concern," he said.
"She doesn't know if someone is stalking her. She's upset she can't go back to her house. Her world is upside down by this incident right now," said Jade, a friend of the victim who does not want her full name published.
Jade said the victim found another place to stay and was taking every precaution to stay safe.
"Who knows when she'll be able to walk around and feel normal again and not worry that someone's watching her," Jade said.
Police said the man used a Polaroid camera that belonged to the victim and left a used condom at the scene. He also left handwritten messages with graphic language about coming back to the home.
"He indicated in his notes that he was infatuated with her and that he had been following her and watching her," Hernandez said.
The man also took personal belongings from the bedroom. Hernandez said police aren't disclosing what was stolen, but said the items were not electronics or typical valuables taken in a burglary.
Police said they don't believe the woman knew the burglar. Police have not found prior evidence of stalking or threats against the woman.
Tuesday, police said an initial set of fingerprints gathered at the scene did not match any others in AFIS, the Automated Fingerprint Identification System. Detectives said they gathered additional prints Tuesday. They've also gathered DNA left behind.
"The guy is sick. Yeah, that's bad," said neighbor Joe Melton. "Somebody left something like that, you don't know if they're going to come back or not."
The victim lived in the house with a female family friend. Only one of the women's bedrooms was ransacked. Police said the burglar didn't appear to take anything from other rooms in the house.
Anyone with information about the burglar is asked to call Rowlett police.
