N.Y. police build case against man accused of raping captive women
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John Jamelske is accused of kidnapping women and holding them in an underground bunker.
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CNN's Jamie Colby says New York authorities are looking for additional victims to build a serial rape case against John Jamelske (April 28)
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SYRACUSE, New York (CNN) -- Authorities Monday appealed for information as they build their case against a retired handyman charged with holding a teenage girl captive for seven months in an underground bunker and sexually abusing her.
John Jamelske was charged April 9 with kidnapping, rape, sodomy and sexual abuse, all stemming from incidents involving the 16-year-old, but other girls and women have come forward with similar accusations, Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh said.
In at least two other cases, Jamelske allegedly kidnapped and abused two teenagers -- one of those he held for a year and the other for almost two years.
Other suspected victims include a woman in her mid-50s who alleged that Jamelske "raped and tortured (her) in his dungeon -- her phrase -- and that occurred about five years ago," Walsh said.
The woman said that after Jamelske kidnapped her, she was bound, gagged, blindfolded and driven to an underground bunker where she remained for nearly 10 months, he said.
During the first three months, the woman said, she was chained to a heavy metal grate and sexually abused every day before he released her, Walsh added.
"We believe that there may be other victims out there," the sheriff said. "We also believe Jamelske may have attempted to lure others and failed."
No other charges have been filed against Jamelske yet, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said.
Walsh addressed questions that have been raised as to why the 16-year-old did not attempt to escape on occasions when the suspect took her to public places. He quoted one of the older victims, saying she said that she "did everything that he asked, hoping he would release me," and made compliant by fear.
"I would only cry when he was not around -- I did not want him to hit me," she reportedly told police. "I did not want to die down in those rooms because no one would ever find my body."
If he inspired that much fear in a grown woman, Walsh said, he couldn't imagine the fear that the teenagers must have felt.
