The case against James Biela, the man who raped and murdered Brianna Denison is ongoing. While he hasn’t been to trial yet both sides are still filing motions, particularly the defense for Biela. New, really creepy heretofore unmentioned information has been released to the media.

Early on in the search for Brianna and her murderer who brutally raped and murdered her and then dumped her in a field, Biela was apparently monitoring stories on the Internet. A search of three computers in Biela’s home turned up thousands of searches after her disappearance of key terms such as “briana denison”, “abduction”, “choke”, “strangle”, “fetish” and “thongs” (remember the pink panther thongs?). The defense has filed a motion to keep this information out of the trial.

It’s sort of creepy. I started writing about Brianna’s disappearance from day one and stayed pretty high in the search listings until I moved my site here and if he was searching her name there is no way he could have missed my posts on Brianna Dennison. The dates are wrong now and they are out of order because something screwed up when I imported them here but if you do a search for Briana Denison on the site you’ll find the posts I wrote back in 2007 and 2008 on the case.

I used to get a feed from the Journal-Gazette but apparently it’s not working for me anymore because I just came across this article about the Denison Blue-Ribbon Campaign.

On Labor Day, tying a blue ribbon around your tree, mailbox or vehicle antenna in memory of Brianna Denison will remind the community of the importance of personal safety.

That’s the hope of Denison’s family and the board members of the Bring Bri Justice Foundation, aimed at making sure all women and children are safe in Nevada. Denison’s killer, who authorities say was a serial sexual predator targeting college neighborhoods, has yet to be caught.

On Monday, the group is launching “Tie a Ribbon for Bri Day” to coincide with school returning to session. Blue ribbons will be available at Reno and Sparks area Starbucks and Scolari’s locations.

Community members are encouraged to tie more ribbons, or replace those that have gotten tattered.

Blue was Brianna’s favorite color. The blue ribbons became a connecting symbol for the community who first searched for her when she was missing, and then demanded justice upon her death.

The foundation had a place flying on Labor Day with a banner that directed people to the foundation’s web site which is the official site dedicated to Brianna Denison.

The vision statement for the Bring Bri Justice Foundation includes:

• Bring Brianna Denison’s murderer to justice.
• Promote legislative and legal efforts to increase consequences preventing violent crimes.
• Promote public awareness assuring the safety of all women and children in Nevada

Go check out the website if you have time and donate as well.

You can mail donations to:

Bring Bri Justice Foundation
PO Box 10892
Reno, NV 89510

Links:

Brianna Denison: 1988-2008

• Solving 1977 slaying gives hope to police
• Testing gains national attention after use in clearing JonBenet Ramsey’s parents
• Reno girl was target of opportunity
• Fewer blue ribbons, but no less faith from Brianna Denison’s family
• Poker run yields $12,000 for Denison foundation

THE SUSPECT

*White male in his early 20s to mid-30s and between 5-foot-9 and 6-foot-3
*The skin on his abdomen, groin and upper legs is noticeably lighter in color than the skin on his hands
*He is large and has a somewhat heavy build, not overly muscular
*Had medium to dark brown hair
*Had large hands with thick “meaty” fingers
*Had a mustache and goatee with a noticeable gap that had no hair between the ends of the mustache and top of the goatee
*His genital area and groin were hairless, and his skin smooth, as if he used hair removal cream
*He spoke clear, fluent English and had no accent.

THE VEHICLE
An extended cab pickup or sport-utility vehicle with a dome light above the windshield. It requires a big step to get inside.
*It has a floor-mounted skinny console that opens in front
*The LED read-out on the radio was blue and red
*The truck had cloth seats and an automatic transmission
*A baby shoe and white letter-size papers with typing were on the front floorboard.

HOW TO HELP
Anyone
with information can reach Reno police detectives at 334-2215, Secret
Witness at 322-4900 or the Denison hot line at 745-3521.

PREVIOUS UNR-AREA ATTACKS
About
5 p.m. Nov. 13, a 21-year-old UNR student was in her apartment complex
parking lot in the 400 block of College Drive when a man grabbed and
fondled her. He ran away after she kicked him and screamed.
About 2
a.m. Dec. 16, a 22-year-old UNR student was walking to her apartment in
the 1400 block of North Virginia Street when a man grabbed her from
behind and rendered her unconscious. She woke up inside his pickup and
was forced to commit a sexual act on him before he drove her home.
Hours
before Denison was abducted, police said they believe the same man
unsuccessfully tried to break down the 22-year-old’s apartment door.

Newly released details in Denison case

Reno
police now say Brianna Denison’s killer walked through an unlocked back
door on Jan. 20 when he found her sleeping on her friend’s couch in a
rental home on MacKay Court. They believe he was lurking around
neighborhoods in the university area in the early morning hours,
looking for a victim and fantasizing about an attack.
Investigators
believe Denison was dead when her killer removed her from the house. He
later left her in a field with two pairs of women’s underwear.
The
suspect, who seemingly has a fetish for collecting underwear, had hours
earlier tried to break down the apartment door of his Dec. 16 victim
whom he kidnapped and sexually assaulted, police said they now believe.
And just weeks before that December assault, he tried to sexually
assault another college student.
– Jaclyn O’Malley

Related articles, multimedia

• Solving 1977 slaying gives hope to police

All of the above info comes from the RJG who have been tireless in their coverage of the case.

This was news because if you remember, originally they were saying that there was ONE pair of panties found near the body. Reno police have identified the second pair as belonging to one of the students that lived in the house Briana was abducted from on January 20th.

Police are reporting that they didn’t immediately release the details about the second pair of panties because more investigation was needed and that it’s pretty typical for investigators to not release information right away.

The City of Reno and America’s Most Wanted teamed up and have released a video on the Reno web site with pertinant facts in the investigation.

If for some reason the video doesn’t show up properly you can also try to view it at the City of Reno Briana Denison Investigation web page.

Early Friday afternoon I received a link to this AP video that reported Briana Denison’s mother and uncle believed that the missing college student was still alive. At that point in time they had plans to process a backlog of 3,000 DNA samples in their search for her. It’s weird that this video was released at 4:13 p.m. which was about four hours AFTER the body was found. Of course at that time she may not have been identified but I find it hard to believe that her family had not been informed.

I was browsing some headlines and came across this entry over at the Crime Scene Blog where they are reporting that Briana Denison has been found. Actually they found her body on Friday while I was in the Bahamas and out of the news loop, which is why I haven’t written anything about it over the weekend. Stephen McCaskill has this to say about it:

Someone who works in the nearby busy industrial center noticed a body lying in the field on Friday and called the police to report it at 12:13 p.m. Reno police found the site six minutes later and cordoned off the area around the site, which is 2-3 acres.

The story is of course also being reported on KVTN Reno/Tahoe news and there are several videos over there. Mainly press conferences and a couple of interviews as well.

The Reno police are assuming that they are dealing with a serial rapist and have at least two cases, possibly three, that are linked with DNA. How weird. Not really weird, just that I finished reading Cross byt James Patterson, dealing with a serial rapist/murderer on the flight home last night. I have never read any of the Alex Cross books and it started out somewhat dry but I enjoyed it and now have a series to start reading (when I get the free time). I digress, back to the subject at hand…

There really isn’t anything other than a recap of the story at any of the news sites and I will pretty much repeat that here.

Briana was a student at Santa Barbara City College in California but was visiting Reno, where she is from, over winter break. She was last seen sleeping on a couch at a friend’s house just off the University of Nevada Reno campus on January 20th. From CNNs report on her body being found there is a partial description of the abductor based on descriptions from previous victims:

Briana Denison’s mother issued a statement on Saturday thanking police and the community for their help in searching for her daughter. “On March 29, 1988, Bridgette and Jeffrey Denison were given the incredible gift of their daughter Brianna. On January 20, 2008, she became the daughter of our entire community,” Bridgette Denison also asked that every woman in the community “be diligent about their own safety”.

The Washoe County Coroner’s Office did an autopsy on Saturday, which is when they officially identified Briana, and they announced it at a news conference. According to Police she had been strangled. Her body had been in the field for at least a week and was concealed there by heavy snow. The full autopsy report won’t be available for a few weeks because they still have pending toxicology reports as well as other stuff. All of that crap you see on CSI and other shows are pretty much a lie as to how quickly this stuff gets done, including the fact that the CSI guys are the ones out there solving the crimes.

While the manhunt for the serial rapist continues, the community is mourning the loss of a young woman that some say was like family.

I haven’t been able to find any confirmation for it (yet) but one of the commenters over at Websleuths stated that during the press conference one of the reporters asked about cameras on surrounding buildings and it was stated that local businesses are volunteering their video that may help in the case. That pretty much sounds like standard operating procedure to me and not something that would generally be reported unless something was seen, which is why I don’t have a link for it.

Brianna’s body was found in South Reno at the intersection of Double R Boulevard and Sandhill Road and since Friday hundreds of people who have never met Brianna Denison have driven there to pay their respects and mourn the loss. The are is no surrounded with blue balloons, flowers, notes, candles and stuffed animals. Blue was apparently Brianna’s favorite color.

America’s Most Wanted also had an update on the case (same info as above) and apparently the crew is currently in Reno as well.

There is also a timeline (with no links) of key events in the Brianna Denison case over at Nevada Appeal.

CBS News has this video out this morning which discusses the fear that Reno residents are facing as a result of the serial rapist turned murderer.

Technorati: Brianna Denison, Reno, Murder, Rape, Missing Persons, America’s Most Wanted, Nevada

…as well as others.

Washoe County authorities are asking for help from the private sector for $150k to help with a backlog of around 3,000 DNA samples from convicted sex offenders to be processed and compared with the DNA of the suspect who abducted Brianna Denison and assaulted two other college students.

The search continues and even Nevada’s first lady Dawn Gibbons has joined the search…

Updated 2-2-08 – America’s Most Wanted will be featuring the Brianna Denison case tonight at 9 p.m. in an effort to bring her home.

Police have also released a composite sketch of what the man may look like. You can see it over at ABC News on the web. Police are calling the man a serial rapist and saying that he may be responsible for four attacks now.

Update 2-1-08: The Washoe County crime lab has established a link between the Denison case and the sexual assault in December as well as another one in the area in November 2007.

The Reno Gazette-Journal has been an invaluable source of information on the Brianna Denison case over the last few days. Here are some facts about the suspect:

THE SUSPECT
# White male, 28-40 years old.
# Long face with a square chin, facial hair about a quarter to a half an inch long below his chin that was soft and not prickly like stubble; brown hair; shaved pubic area.
# Slightly taller than 5-foot-6
# Firm stomach with an “innie” belly button.
# Strong but not overly muscular
# No accent when he spoke
# No alcohol or cigarettes on his breath; no cologne
# He wore a red short-sleeve shirt of a jersey material described as silk/nylon or polyester, with a medium blue neckline and possible embroidery on the upper left breast area. He wore a shirt underneath extended to his wrists.
# He wore smooth pants with an elastic waist similar to basketball warmups.

THE VEHICLE
# An extended cab pickup or sport-utility vehicle with a dome light above the windshield and a step to get inside.
# Floor-mounted, skinny console that opens in front. The LED read-out on the radio was blue and red, the vehicle had cloth seats and an automatic transmission.
# A baby shoe was on the front seat floor board, and white pieces of paper about eight and one half by 11 inches with typing on them were on the floorboard of the front seat.

HOW TO HELP
# Anyone with information can reach the Reno police hot line at 745-3521, detectives at 334-2115 or Secret Witness at 322-4900.
# The family is offering a $100,000 reward for information. Secret Witness is offering a $2,500 reward for anonymous tips that lead to an arrest and prosecution.

PREVIOUS UNR-AREA ATTACKS
# About 5 p.m. Nov. 13, a 21-year-old UNR student was walking to her home and was in the parking lot of her apartment complex in the 400 block of College Drive when a man grabbed her and fondled her. He ran away after she kicked him and screamed.
# About 2 a.m., Dec. 16, a 22-year-old UNR student was walking to her apartment in the 1400 block of North Virginia Street when a man grabbed her from behind and rendered her unconscious. She woke up inside his pickup and was forced to commit a sexual act on him before he drove her home.

Head over to the Reno Gazette-Journal for more information as well as online chat about the case.

This video was released by CBS this morning…

I can certainly see why students in the area are still worried. Police are concerned that if not caught, the kidnapper will strike again.

CBS news is reporting a break in the case of missing Brianna Denison and according to the blurb that was attached to the video they are closing in on a suspect. Julie Chen spoke with Brianna’s mother, grandfather and Commander Ron Holladay of the Reno Police Department.

In reality it doesn’t seem to be much more information than I presented quickly last night. They do seem to have a better description, provided by one of the other sexual assault victims, but shouldn’t they have already had this information from December?

There’s nothing new over at the Reno Gazette-Journal other than this story about two volunteer groups helping out in the search for Brianna. They have been right on top of the story and as soon as there is another break in the case I would expect to see it here.

I also came across this video from the Associated Press which gives a general description of the suspect that Police are looking for.

Technorati: Brianna Denison,Reno,University of Nevada,Kidnapping

It’s got to be pretty frustrating for everyone concerned out in Reno right now. Brianna Denison disappeared five days ago and right now they have very little evidence and few leads as to her whereabouts.

Police did say yesterday that they planned to interview about 100 registered sex offenders that live within a mile of the home where she vanished on Sunday as a routine part of the investigation.

Police are also saying that the two attacks late in the year on University of Nevada at Reno students don’t appear to be related to Denison’s disappearance but they are not ruling out the possibility.

1-24-2008 – Thus far there doesn’t seem to be much progress in the search for Brianna Denison but her family has not lost hope and vows to keep that hope alive.

So far along with the Reno Police and FBI, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the University of Nevada Reno police department has joined the investigation team.

The family has also hired two private investigators and is seeking psychics experienced with missing persons cases. They want to make sure and not rule out any options or leave any stone unturned, no matter how foolish it may seem. I would feel the same way were it one of my children.

It has been four days since Brianna’s disappearance and every day that goes by increases the unlikeliness that she will be found alive.

The last communication with Brianna was in a text message that she sent to her boyfriend in Oregon. He has been cleared as a suspect. I have not yet found out what was in the text message.

The ‘person of interest’ that was driving the Suburban has come forward voluntarily and the police have eliminated him as a suspect.

One thing that keeps coming to my mind is that there have been one kidnapping and two sexual assaults within about three blocks of the area where Brianna disappeared. So far the police are reporting that they are not related but they also happened at around the same time of night and have yet to be solved, so how the heck do they know if the crimes are related or not?

According to CNN there are about 1700 convicted sex offenders living in the county and each of them will be contacted and interviewed. 1700? Damn. As a ,matter of fact there were something like 100 registered offenders withing a one mile area of the house.

Updated 1-23-08 9:45 p.m. Police are suspecting foul play in the disappearance of Brianna Denison and a kidnapping investigation is now underway in the Reno area.

The AP is also reporting that students at the University of Nevada at Reno are concerned about their own safety in the wake of Brianna’s kidnapping

————————————————————————————————————

Brianna Denison, 19, was last seen around 4 a.m. Sunday morning when she went to sleep at her friend’s house near the University of Nevada, Reno. As of right now police are treating the case as a kidnapping.

The FBI has joined the search and the Reno Gazette-Journal has this article up:

You can read more of their complete story at the link.

There are several different reasons that they are considering this a kidnapping rather than just a disappearance. They include the fact that there is a spot of what is suspected to be blood on the pillow she was using, her clothes, cellphone and purse remained at the house, she was sleeping on a couch just inches away from an unlocked glass door (anyone looking inside would have seen her), a stuffed bear that her friend gave her to support the pillow is missing, she was due back in class today.

Brianna has been described by friends and family as being a responsible, good girl and her family is  frantically awaiting word that she’s OK.

There is a 24 hour tipline available if you have information pertaining to Brianna’s disappearance at 775-745-3521

Police are looking for the driver of a tan or light brown SUV, possibly a Suburban. The driver is approximately 45 and of Latin origin. He is not a suspect but is being sought as a person of interest that may have seen something. He was seen in the parking lot of the Sands Regency and dropped a friend off at the house where Denison was staying.

Brianna Denison is described as being 5-feet tall, 98 pounds with long brown hair and blue eyes. Her Facebook Profile is here, or at least one created to help find her. I did come across her profile earlier today and it didn’t show much publicly but this one does.  OK, I just looked in my history and the link you have their is for a Facebook Group called Find Bri. Go join if you want to help out.

From the Associated Press:

CNN also had a story up on it this afternoon, but nothing really new.

Thanks to the Jawa Report I found that the Reno Police also has a website for their hotline. They also have a link for the Facebook Group above.

There is new DNA evidence which links the disappearance of Brianna Denison in Nevada to another sexual assault and kidnapping.

Reno Police are saying that the suspect they are most likely looking for is white, in his mid-thirties, drives a truck or SUV, has facial hair and is in good shape.

Police are saying that the DNA links the disappearance of Denison and the December assault of a college student in the area and leads them to believe that a sole attacker was responsible for both cases.

Police believe that the man lives in the area or knows the campus well and are asking for help from anyone that may have seen someone acting suspiciously or perhaps their behavior has changed radically over the last few weeks.

This map from the Reno Gazette-Journal shows the locations of the abductions that might be related to this case over the last three months.

During the kidnapping on December 16th the suspect knocked the 22-year-old student unconscious, made her perform a sex act on him, and then drove her back to her apartment.

According to the police his DNA profile does not yet match any of the convicted offenders entered into the national DNA database, but apparently scientists have been complaining that the database is severely backlogged. Just how behind they are I am not sure.

They are saying now that the fluid found on Brianna’s pillow was her blood and that they also found her attacker’s DNA at the scene. They are saying that the pillow could have been used to restrain or smother her.

Police have found a pair of thongs in the same field where Brianna Denison’s body was located late last week. After testing they have found DNA from two different people on the underwear, that of the unknown rapist/murderer and an unknown female.

Police don’t want to really speculate because it’s possible that the underwear are stolen or they may have belonged to a victim that has not yet come forward or can’t come forward. It’s possible that the man either inadvertently dropped the thong when he was dumping Brianna’s body, or it may be a horrible message to police that he’s committed yet another crime and the police haven’t found him.

The underwear itself was a black thong with the head of the Pink Panther on it. Police are saying that it did not belong to Brianna Denison.

Newscom also has the report up as well as CNN and other news outlets. From Newscom and Voxant:

If I get the chance this evening I will try and update this entry as I get more information.

According to CNN and a couple of other news sites I’ve stopped in at, pepper spray is a hot item in town right now. Doesn’t surprise me. I would think that guns would be another hot item. I don’t know what the personal carry laws are like in Reno but if I were a woman I wouldn’t be caught without one right now.