Jogger tells of road to recovery from rape: Survivor of serial attacker recalls shock of her own scream.

Publication: Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC )

Bookmark this article Print this article Link to this article Email this article Digg It! Add to del.icio.us RSS

COPYRIGHT 2006 The Charlotte Observer

Byline: Kytja Weir

Sep. 25--It's been one year. But Meghan says she still can't jog alone.

On a Sunday morning a year ago today she was attacked while running down busy East Boulevard in Charlotte's Dilworth neighborhood. A man wearing only red underwear grabbed her, threatening her with what looked like a knife. He dragged her behind a building and raped her. The same man is blamed with at least two earlier rapes in the Charlotte area and police believe he may have tried to abduct another woman walking in Myers Park last January. He remains at large. All police have is a vague description and a DNA profile entered into a national database, waiting for the man's next misstep. But Meghan, now 26, is left with an upended life, shattered confidence, post-traumatic stress disorder and the sound of her own scream reverberating in her memory. Still, she is determined to reclaim her life. She wants people to see her face, to hear her name. The Observer doesn't normally name victims of sexual assaults and is withholding her last name for her safety. Meghan thinks about how many unnamed people have been raped since she was attacked. More than 93,000 rapes were reported across the country last year. And federal crime experts estimate that more than 60 percent of rapes and sexual assaults aren't even reported to authorities. She imagines...

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.