DNA has linked a serial rapist to attack in Marquez, Yoakum and Bell County, and authorities believe the same man is responsible for all nine instances. The problem is, they don't know who he is.

Meanwhile Investigators from sheriff's departments in Leon County, Falls County and Bell County, as well as Yoakum Police gathered at the Leon County Courthouse Monday evening for a community meeting about the serial rapist. The man has targeted three women in Leon County, including a woman in Centerville just over a week ago.

Around 150 people crowded into the courthouse. Investigators from each department described local attacks. In every case the victims were older white women who lived alone in rural areas. They were all attacked in the middle of the night while they were sleeping.

Yoakum Police said a 66-year-old woman was attacked on January 23. Yoakum is a city of around 7,500 people and sits on the DeWitt and Lavaca County line. Police said the victim lived in DeWitt County, and was robbed of her $12,000 life savings.

Police said on February 27th, another Yoakum woman was attacked. Investigators said the suspect attempted to sexually assault the 79-year-old Lavaca County resident, but left.

On July 20th, Leon County Investigators said an elderly Marquez woman was attacked.

Bell County Sheriff's Deputies said the attacker then moved to their County, where he attacked a woman in the tiny community of Zabcikville, on August 14th. Deputies said the victim, who was in her early 90s, woke up to a man standing in her bedroom doorway. They said the woman was sexually assaulted and robbed.

Investigators from Leon County said September 5 the man struck again, attacking an older woman in Marquez. Deputies said some money was also taken.

Sheriff's deputies from Bell County could not provide an exact date, but said at the beginning of September, a 90-year-old woman from the town of Seaton was the next victim. Seaton is eight miles east of Temple.

Days later, on September 12, Deputies in Leon County responded to suspicious activity in Marqez, where a woman's burglar bars had been removed from a window.

On October 12, Falls County Investigators received a 911 call from an elderly resident in Marlin, who said she had been raped. Falls County Sheriff Ben Kirk said the woman's home had been broken into in August, and $400 was stolen from her purse. Kirk said he believed the same person committed both crimes.

The latest attack was October 24th, in Centerville, where an 88-year-old woman was able to scare her attacker off with a gun. Leon County Sheriff Jerry Wakefield said TDCJ dogs were called in to track the neighborhood, but could not find anything.

Authorities said DNA has linked attacks in Marquez, Yoakum and Bell County, and believe the same man is responsible for all nine instances.

In every case, investigators said the man broke into each home weeks prior to the attack, and often cut the phone line. Authorities said the man disabled the phone line again on the night of the attacks, which were all between the hours of 2 a.m. and 5 a.m..

When pressed for more information during the meeting, investigators revealed the man entered through a window each time, and in some cases removed a pane or in one case, removed the entire window. Authorities said they believe the man wears surgical gloves during the attacks.

Leon County Investigators said none of the victims have been able to provide a conclusive description of the man, only that he speaks English without an accent. "We've had three different descriptions. We've had a black male, white male, hispanic male. The size has gone from 5'5" to 6'2"," said one investigator.

None of the departments had any leads and asked the public for help. Leon County Sheriff Jerry Wakefield asked everyone at the meeting to walk around their home and examine the windows to see if there were signs any screens had been pried off. He also encouraged women who had cell phones to keep them by their beds. When several women reported they had no cell service at home, Wakefield suggested keeping a key chain with a car alarm on a night stand, so the women could set it off.

After the meeting, women in attendance said the rapist was on many people's minds.

"Everybody's kinda baffled that there's no leads. It could be the delivery man, there's just no way of knowing," said Shirley Baker, of Flynn.

Several women at the meeting said they planned to arm themselves with a gun or mace to ward off an attacker.

"I have my gun. I have my dogs. I lock up everything at night and also if anything happened my dogs would bark first and then I would shoot second," said Sue High, of Buffalo.

Leon County investigators are asking anyone who sees anything suspicious to call 911. Wakefield said he didn't want anyone to approach a suspicious person, but if possible get a description as well as a license plate or vehicle description if possible.