Police Say Woman Sexually Assaulted on Rowing Trip
Five weeks ago, Jenn Gibbons set off on 1,500-mile solo rowing journey around Lake Michigan to raise money for breast cancer survivors, blogging along the way about life on the water. Police say someone following her well-chronicled voyage from a distance may have used the information to do her harm.
A man broke in as Gibbons slept in the vessel’s cabin, police say, and sexually assaulted her while the boat was moored along the shore in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She is going public about the ordeal, hoping it helps catch the assailant and sends a message of strength to others who have been assaulted.
Her dream of traversing the lake’s perimeter alone in a boat is over, but she’s continuing the journey with a support team - and partly on land.
“I don’t really think it’s changed me at all,” she said Tuesday in a phone interview with The Associated Press, which generally does not name sexual assault victims but is doing so in this case because Gibbons wanted to be identified. “It’s made more clear to me than ever that I can’t let things stop me from achieving my goal.”
Michigan State Police say the assault happened around 4 a.m. Sunday as the craft was moored near the village of Gulliver on the lake’s northern shore.
“He somehow got on the boat. There’s a hatch,” Sgt. Michael Powell said. “He opened it and gained entrance.”
Investigators believe the attacker, whom Gibbons did not know, may have traveled a “significant distance” after following her movements on the website, Powell said. The site tracked her progress by satellite and regularly updated her location.