UPDATE: Reward Offered In Violent Assault Of Franklin High School Senior

An 18-year-old Franklin High School senior who was “violently assaulted” early in the morning of April 26 remains in critical condition, officials said.

A $2,500 reward is being offered by Crime Stoppers of Somerset County for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the person responsible for the attack on the 18-year-old woman, according to a release from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.

At the high school, a special staff meeting was held to “brief the staff and provide guidance to support any students who were upset by the incident,” according to a statement from the district. “Additionally, counseling services and support were made available to students and staff as they returned to school this morning.”

The statement said that parents and staff were notified of the incident during the afternoon of April 27.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and provide support and counseling to our staff and students as well as assist the victim’s family in whatever way we can,” the statement said.

Police found the woman – who has yet to be officially identified – outside her Vanderbilt Avenue home shortly before 6:30 a.m. Saturday. The woman was suffering from a “significant head injury” and lacerations and stab wounds to her arms and upper torso, according to a release on the assault from Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano.

Officers and medical personnel performed life-saving measures, after which the woman was transported to an area trauma center with “life threatening” injuries,” according to the release. The woman underwent emergency surgery, the release said.

Police were able to find out where she lived and entered her home looking for more victims or suspects, the release said. There were “obvious” signs of a violent struggle in the woman’s bedroom, police said, but no one else in the residence.

The residence was secured as a crime scene, police said.

The investigation also revealed that the woman was home alone at the time of the assault.

Police said the family car, which was parked at the home at the time of the assault, was taken by the attacker but was recovered on April 28 with the help of New Jersey and New York media and the general public. The car is described as a 2009 black 4 door Mazda 6.

The case is being investigated by detectives from the Franklin Township Police Department as well as detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and Crime Scene Investigations and Forensics Unit.

Police ask anyone with information regarding the assault to contact the Franklin Township Police Department at (732) 873-2300, the Somerset County Prosecutors Office Major Crimes Unit at (908) 231-7100, or the Somerset County Crime Stoppers’ Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477) or online at www.888577tips.org or www.scpo.net and click on either “Crime Stoppers” or “TIPS HOTLINE”. All Crime Stopper tips will be kept confidential.

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