WORTHINGTON — State police admit they have few clues in the alleged rape of a woman in an alleyway in the borough early Wednesday morning.

“There's really nothing to go on at this point,” Trooper Eric Maurer said this morning.

The 26-year-old woman was only able to provide police with a limited description of her attacker, who she said ambushed her about 1:30 a.m.

“He forced her to the ground from behind and she never got a good look at him,” Maurer said. “He was always behind her.”

A white male are the only identifiers police have to go on.

The unknown suspect took the woman to the ground and struck her in the face when she tried to fight him off. He spoke briefly during the assault, which occurred near the woman's home.

“He threatened to harm her if she yelled,” Maurer said.

The victim did not detect any accent or speech pattern about the attacker's voice.

The trooper said there are “homes all around” but police have been unable to find anyone who heard or saw anything.

The suspect ran off after assaulting the woman. She reported the attack a short time later, investigators said. Minor facial injuries were the only visible injuries.

The woman was taken to ACMH Hospital in East Franklin Township for a forensic exam, known as a rape kit. Solving the crime, Maurer acknowledged, could ultimately hinge on lab results from that examination.

Fluids, hairs and skin left behind by an attacker can be tested for DNA, during the rape kit collection. Once that DNA is extracted, police can look for a match in the FBI's DNA database

The Combined DNA Indexing System database is like a genetic version of the FBI's fingerprint files. Even if there's no immediate match, having that DNA profile in the records is important, because an attacker's DNA can turn up at crime scenes in the future.

“Hopefully,” Maurer said, “the lab can come back with something to go on.”

In the meantime, the trooper said a re-canvas of the area would be conducted for any eyewitness or earwitness who may have been missed the first time around.

Police ask anyone with information about the case to call the Kittanning barracks at 724-543-2011, or 911.