Marengo County Sheriff Richard Bates said Thursday that his deputies are still gathering evidence in the case of a rape alleged to have taken place Wednesday, Jan. 21.

The incident is reported to have taken place along U.S. Highway 80 west of Demopolis near Rooster Bridge.

“We’re still working on it,” Bates said.

“Deputies have made a trip to the victim’s home to try to gather more information.”

The alleged victim told The Times Tuesday that her assailant used a flashing red light to halt her vehicle, passing himself off as a police officer when he informed her he had stopped her car for failure to use a turn signal.

“We’re concentrating on Highway 80,” Bates said of the sheriff department’s investigation.

According to Bates, similar cases have previously been reported in nearby towns such as Greensboro and Marion.

“This is the only case that we know of. We have had several reports that something like this has happened before (north of Demopolis),” Bates said. “This is the first incident we’ve had in Marengo County. Right now, nothing significant that we can just sink our teeth into happened south of Highway 80.”.

Bates indicated his staff is exploring every avenue available to it as some tips have cited similar incidents in west Alabama as far back as 1992.

“We’re just looking at every angle we can look at it from,” Bates said.