New lead in Behrman case

Authorities are looking into a new lead in the Jill Behrman case.\nBehrman, a 19-year-old lifelong Bloomington resident who had just completed her freshman year at IU, went out for a bike ride on the morning of May 31 last year. She never returned.\nHer bike turned up later that day in an Ellettsville cornfield, more than 10 miles away from where she was last seen. Bloomington police and the FBI have since been investigating the presumed abduction.\nThey've received thousands of tips and pursued a number of leads.\nNow, they're looking into an eerily similar case not 200 miles away.\nMay 13, an early morning kidnapping attempt failed on the rural outskirts of Bowling Green, a small college town, home to Western Kentucky University. Warren County, Ky., sheriff's deputies were called at about 10 a.m. to 1011 Old Richardsville Road in nearby Richardsville.\nA male motorist knocked an unidentified woman off her bike and then tried to abduct her, Sheriff's Deputy Chad Smith said. The victim suffered a broken foot in the assault and has since been released from the Warren County Medical Center.\nDeputy Joe Green, the investigator assigned to the case, said she had been lucky to escape.\nHer screams drew the attention of a local resident who ran to her aid, Green said.\nWhen the neighbor intervened, Green said the suspect got into his vehicle and fled the scene.\nThe sheriff's department won't release the name of the victim or the neighbor who helped her.\n"It's for her safety," Smith said. "I don't think she wants it to be released since she doesn't know this guy."\nGiven the similarities, the Bloomington FBI agents investigating the Behrman case hope for a link. They've been in talks with the Warren County Sheriff's Department.\n"Once he's identified, we'll see if we can confirm that he might've been in Bloomington," Special Agent Gary Dunn said. "They're continuing with their investigation, and we're going to see if we can trace him back to this."\nThe woman described her assailant as a white man about 6-feet tall and 190 pounds, Green said. She also said the attacker had red hair and acne scars on his face. He drove a brown four-door 1980s Dodge Dynasty with a Playboy bunny sticker in the back window and Kentucky registration.\nGreen said the vehicle might have slight damage to the right front bumper as a result of the collision.