Florida police release images of sleeping, unconscious women found on video camera of suspected rapist

THEY might look peaceful, but these images found in the home of a suspected serial rapist had authorities seriously worried.

FOR months, authorities in Florida were concerned they may have multiple deaths on their hands.

The discovery of a video featuring nine women either sleeping or unconscious from the home of a suspected rapist set off alarm bells and the Windermere police department were desperate to track them down.

They were not only concerned these women may have been sexually assaulted, they were scared they may not be alive.

Seven months after the footage of the women in compromising positions was found, they took the unusual step of releasing them to the public this week in a bid to find them.

“We are not sure if they are harmed,” Windermere police chief David Ogden told media. “We’re not sure if they’re safe. We’re not sure if they’re even alive, to be honest with you.

“Some of our biggest fears are that these cases are so old that maybe there’s somebody out there that isn’t alive any longer.

“We’re just not sure about that. That’s why this is critical and that’s why it’s important.”

Since the footage was released on Tuesday, police have identified five women.

One was identified by a tattoo while the others were identified through other means. All five women were deemed to be safe, clickorlando.com reported.

However investigators are still searching for the other four.

**Alert**The Windermere Police Department is attempting to identify the woman in the photos attached, and check on...

Posted by Windermere Chief David Ogden on Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Police believe the photos were taken before 2011 and they think the women are from the Central Florida area.

“I think the time frame, as you know, some time ago when we released a few of the pictures, we told you that we weren’t sure of the time frame. So right now, all we know is we’ve narrowed it down to anywhere between 2006 and 2012.

“That makes it very difficult,” Chief Ogden said on Tuesday.

What is so alarming about this case is that the footage was found in a search of a home belonging to Darryl Patterson, a man police suspected has drugged and raped multiple women for years.

More worryingly is that police only began investigating this case after Patterson walked into a police station in April claiming he had been the victim of possible fraud.

An officer who recognised him as a rape suspect from a closed but unsolved case in 2012 decided to re-look at it, WFTV.com reported.

It emerged that case featured a video of alleged sexual assaults being carried out on three women.

Officers assigned to the case at the time decided not to pursue it, according to WFTV.com. They no longer work for the Windermere Police Department.

According to the search warrant used by Windermere police, officers believed Patterson sexually assaulted the three women sometime in 2010 or before and videotaped the assaults, WFTV.com reported.

They said one video showed a woman trying to push Patterson away without success. In the others it shows two other women being sexually assaulted while completely unconscious.

Around the same time a fourth woman came forward claiming Patterson had tried to assault her but she managed to get away.

Police searched Patterson’s home in April where they seized a number of items including cameras, videotapes computers and phones.

It is believed from that search police found the videos featuring the nine women.

Police said the images released on Tuesday are screen-grabs from videos likely recorded anywhere from 2008 to 2013, clickorlando.com reported.

While police have questioned Patterson, he has never been arrested, nor has he identified the women.

His former lawyer said in May that he client had done nothing wrong.

After police searched his home in May, Leslie Sweet, his then lawyer, told Local 6: “You can have a video showing sexual acts, but you’re not going to know about a lack of consent or whether there was consent unless you talk to the people involved.

“Darryl Patterson is a regular member of the community. He’s very quiet, he’s self-employed.”

Sweet stepped down as Patterson’s lawyer the same day.

Since discovering the identities of five of the women Windermere police said they would not be naming them but encouraged anyone who recognised the remaining four to contact authorities.