DNA evidence links rape suspect to woman found dead in Redlands
New DNA evidence has linked a suspected kidnapper and rapist to the death of a 23-year-old woman whose body was found in a Redlands orange grove, police said Thursday.
Sylvia Marie Flores was last seen alive at a San Bernardino gas station shortly before 10 a.m. on Feb. 25, the Redlands Police Department said. Her body was found the next day in the grove near Almond Avenue west of Alabama Street.
Detectives believe that Flores was a prostitute working in San Bernardino at the time of her death. On Thursday, police said DNA evidence found on her body was linked to an unknown suspect wanted in connection with a 2003 kidnap and rape in San Bernardino.
The woman in that incident fled the attacker after she was raped and alerted police. The rape took place on West 7th Street, near where evidence was found in Flores’ slaying. That led “detectives to believe the suspect is familiar with that area,” police said in a statement.
Police described the suspect as white in his late 30s or early 40s with black hair and a receding hairline. He is about 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighs about 250 pounds and has a light, pale complexion.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at (909) 798-7681.
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