Marion County deputies still seek stabbing suspect

photo This is a composite sketch produced by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office of a man suspected in Marion County of stabbing a woman repeatedly at a home north of Powells Crossroads, Tenn., on April 13.

Marion County authorities still are seeking information in an April 13 knife attack on a woman who was stabbed multiple times at a home north of Powells Crossroads, Tenn.

Marion County Sheriff Ronnie "Bo" Burnett said the search for the nameless suspect continues but investigators have no new leads.

"It's just like nothing ever happened," Burnett said. The sheriff said detectives want people around the area to take a look at a composite drawing released back in April to see if it jogs a memory.

The 34-year-old victim was stabbed repeatedly by a man who approached her at a home off Alvin York Highway saying he was a Jehovah's Witness, lead detective Gene Hargis said during the investigation.

According to Hargis, the man was "talking religious jargon and [the victim] basically told him she wasn't interested and tried to shut the door, and that's when he kicked the door and came in on her."

After the man left, the victim was able to phone for help, he said.

Detectives have not received a call on the case "in the last four weeks," Hargis said Thursday.

The woman had stab wounds in the abdomen, groin, chest and face, and the weapon - a 6-inch-long steak knife - still was embedded in her body when she was airlifted to Chattanooga for treatment.

Burnett said there are no signs that anything was taken from the home, and there were no confirmed reports of suspicious vehicles in the area that afternoon.

The assailant is described as a dark-haired man with a dark complexion, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing about 200 pounds with a scruffy beard and bad teeth, authorities said. He was last seen around 2 p.m. CDT on April 13 wearing a dark shirt, khaki pants and a red baseball cap.

Anyone with any information about the attacker is asked to call Hargis or detective Beth Schindel at 423-942-2525.

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