PANAMA CITY — The Bay County Sheriff’s Office is halting its investigation into a Panama City Beach rape case after inconsistencies arose in the statements of the alleged victim, officials announced Monday.
Initially, investigators believed the case may have been connected with a Panama City Beach home invasion days earlier. Physical evidence at the scene appeared to match, which was interpreted as a calling card for a would-be serial rapist. However, after more than a week of their investigation, BCSO called off its search for a suspect in its case, stating that neither a sexual battery nor a home invasion occurred as reported.
“We discovered some of the things reported had not been accurate,” Sheriff Frank McKeithen said at a Monday news conference. “We’re pretty convinced the allegations made by the victim were not true and correct.”
BCSO investigators suspect mental issues contributed to the filing of a false report to law enforcement. The victim has been detained under the Baker Act, McKeithen said, which could protect her from criminal charges in connection with the report.
Investigators initially believed the scene from the incident in the North Lagoon apartment resembled that of another Panama City Beach home invasion from a few days earlier. The reports of a masked assailant attacking a woman in her home, the apparent use of chemicals as an attempt to conceal the crime and the time of day of the incident were among the similar characteristics.
“It’s very unusual for something like this to happen,” McKeithen said. “And that was what we thought to be the connection.”
Around noon on Dec. 16, a white male dressed in all black clothes entered a woman’s home in the Edgewater Crossing Apartments and attacked her, according to a Panama City Beach Police press release. She was treated for chemical burns on her skin, caused by exposure to bleach.
PCBPD has not announced an arrest in that case.
Days later, on Dec. 19, a similar incident occurred on North Lagoon. The coincidences were thought to perhaps be the calling card of a would-be serial rapist, McKeithen said.
Investigators found the North Lagoon apartment in disarray with what deputies believed was bleach poured over a staircase and bed. A blanket hanging out of the window was tied to one of the bedposts. The victim told deputies she believed she had been drugged with an unknown substance, and the only description she could provide was of a white man who wore a mask during the attack.
Though the victim did not give detectives further information about the incident, investigators discovered inconsistencies among others’ accounts from that day and the route an assailant would have taken to reach the victim.
“There was no reason to doubt the validity of a sexual battery victim; you just don’t do that,” McKeithen said. “But because of inaccuracies in the reports, we felt confident in telling the public we believe it did not happen.”
No charges have been filed against the alleged victim. McKeithen said she is still in treatment at a mental facility.