Police: Chaffee woman's rape report suspicious

A reported rape of a woman on Cape Girardeau's south side may be unfounded, police said Thursday.

A 21-year-old Chaffee woman reported she was raped and robbed of cash at knifepoint around 5 a.m. Wednesday near State Highway 74 and Ellis Street.

But police were suspicious of the woman's story, and she later admitted to investigators that there was no knife involved and she knew the man, police spokesman Jason Selzer said.

"We don't have that many incidents where a stranger jumps out of a bush and rapes someone," he said.

The woman admitted to officers that the man had told the woman to give him money and sex, and she had complied.

Police were continuing their investigation, and charges of filing a false police report may be pursued, Selzer said.