Police say second pair of underpants found with victim

RENO -- Police disclosed for the first time Thursday that a second pair of women's panties found with Brianna Denison's body had DNA belonging to her, her suspected killer and a woman who lived at the house where she was abducted.

The second pair, described as pink, was intertwined with previously disclosed thong-style underwear that is black with Pink Panther emblems, Reno police Commander Leigha Struffert said.

Investigators believe both pair of panties might have been taken from the home where Denison last was seen when she was abducted Jan. 20 on the edge of the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno, Struffert said.

Denison's body was found Feb. 15 in a vacant lot in southeast Reno.

"We know that the suspect left both pair at the scene, which makes the underwear important evidence," she said.

Struffert said investigators still hope that the owner of the Pink Panther underwear will come forward and provide a key link in the case.

"The suspect in this case is known by someone, someone with whom they have had a long- or short-term relationship, or even a husband or other relatives," she said. "We need to know under what circumstances the black underwear was lost and when."

Denison, a student at Santa Barbara City College in California, was visiting her hometown during winter break and last was seen sleeping on a couch at a friend's rental house near campus.

Two women and two men lived at the house. All have been interviewed and none is considered a suspect, Struffert said.

Struffert said police decided to make the evidence public Thursday to clear up confusion about the presence of DNA on the Pink Panther underwear, which police originally reported had DNA from the suspected killer and an unknown woman, but Reno police Lt. Robert McDonald earlier this week said that DNA belonged to an unknown male and female.

Police said that DNA evidence still links Denison's kidnapping to two other attacks on women near the university late last year and that an earlier on-campus attack also could be related.

Police have described the suspect as a white male between the ages of 28 and 40 who is at least 5 feet 6 inches tall with brown hair. He was believed to have normal speech with no accent or regional dialect.