Search expands for Tri-City serial rapist victims in Seattle, Tacoma and Oregon
An investigation into a suspected serial rapist from the Tri-Cities is now turning to other cities in Washington and Oregon where he visited.
Kennewick detectives are trying to get the word out in Seattle, Tacoma, Portland and Beaverton to find out if there are more women who were attacked, said a police news release.
So far, six women have accused Brandon Lamon Jones, 26, of raping them after they met him through an online escort website, skipthegames.com.
Jones of Kennewick was arrested in June after a woman reported being raped at gunpoint in Kennewick.
Soon after, other women came forward to report similar attacks by Jones. He’s currently charged in Benton County Superior Court with seven counts of first-degree rape involving six women.
An undisclosed number of other women also have contacted Kennewick police and Benton County prosecutors but no new charges have been filed yet, said police Lt. Ryan Kelly.
“It is possible that there are more victims out there,” he said. “Our investigation has revealed that Jones frequented the following areas: Seattle, Tacoma, Portland and Beaverton.”
“We want (the victims) to see this face and know that there is an investigation going on,” said Kelly.
Anyone who believes they have been a victim is asked to call Detective Elizabeth Grant at 509-585-4208.
Alleged pattern of attacks
The alleged attacks happened between November 2020 and May 2022. They all follow the same pattern, claim police.
Jones allegedly used the escort website skipthegames.com to meet women, then pulled out a gun and forced them to have sex, according to court documents.
The women also reported that he demanded money and took their phones, said court documents.
The women gave similar descriptions of their attacker, including that he was driving a white 4-door car and was wearing a gold cross-shaped earring.
Police said two phone numbers used by the rapist to set up the meetings were both tied to Jones, said court documents.
One women told police “there had been similar assaults happening throughout the Tri-Cities with a similar suspect description,” according to court records.
The women said they were too afraid to report the attacks to police.
During Summer 2020, Jones was one of the leaders of Unbound-Tri-Cities, one of three Black Lives Matter organizations which organized Tri-Cities protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The group has been inactive for more than a year.
This story was originally published July 22, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Search expands for Tri-City serial rapist victims in Seattle, Tacoma and Oregon."