Investigators with the Carter County Sheriff’s Office are asking for the public’s help to identify a suspect who assaulted an elderly woman in her home on Friday.

On Tuesday, CCSO Chief Deputy James Parrish confirmed that an 88-year-old woman had been assaulted at her home in the Hunter Community. When the Elizabethton Star spoke with Parrish on Monday requesting information on the incident, Parrish said the Sheriff’s Office had no information to release and investigators were working to determine what had happened at the home before confirming if it was an assault.

“The assault has been confirmed,” Parrish told the STAR on Tuesday. “That’s all we can confirm.”

Parrish said he was not able to confirm any other reported details of the incident beyond the assault, and declined to specify how the woman had been assaulted.

According to a CCSO incident report, deputies were summoned to a home in the Hunter community shortly before Noon on Friday after a family member called 911 and reported finding the woman unresponsive in her bed. The woman was taken to a local hospital for treatment of serious injuries, including severe bruising to her face and jaw area.

CCSO Sgt. David Tranbarger was one of the officers who responded to the woman’s home, and he later went to the hospital to try to speak with her.

“At the hospital (the woman’s) face and jaw were too severely swollen for her to speak, however, she was able to nod yes or no when asked questions,” Tranbarger said.

Tranbarger said he asked the woman if she had been assaulted and she nodded yes. He then asked her if she had been raped and she again nodded yes.

At this time, Parrish said the incident is still under investigation by the department, and investigators are asking for the public’s help.

“We’ve spoken with one person of interest so far,” Parrish said. “We’re working leads. We’re getting lots of tips, but those have to be confirmed and corroborated.”

If anyone has any information regarding this incident, they are asked to contact Investigator Penny Garland or Investigator Jeff Markland at the Carter County Sheriff’s Office at 423-542-1846. Tips can also be submitted anonymously online through the Sheriff’s Office website. To submit an online tip, go to www.sheriff.cc, click on contact us, and select “Crime Tip.”