Police Searched E-mail Accounts of Slain Newspaper Carrier

Raleigh, N.C. — New search warrants released Tuesday in the death of a pregnant newspaper carrier show investigators searched her e-mail accounts to see if she might have known her killer.

Jenna Nielsen, 22, was delivering USA Today newspapers on June 14 when she was attacked and stabbed to death. Her body was found behind a convenience store on Lake Wheeler Road in Raleigh. She was eight months pregnant at the time of her death.

In warrants dated Sept. 17, Sept. 21 and Oct. 5, investigators requested access to a Hotmail account and a Yahoo! account that Nielsen and her husband, Tim Nielsen, shared, as well as individual accounts belonging to each of them.

Police have said there is no indication that anyone close to Nielsen is a suspect in the case and that they are still investigating it as a stranger homicide. Homicide victims' communications, however, are often examined to see if there is any evidence that could lead them to a suspect.

Investigators have not named a suspect in the case but have released a composite sketch of a person of interest wanted for questioning.

Raleigh police are looking for a man believed to be in his late teens or early 20s, standing about 5 feet, 3 inches tall and weighing about 120 pounds. He had black hair pulled into a ponytail and wore a dark-colored sleeveless shirt and baggy denim shorts. Police believe he might be Hispanic.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Raleigh Police Department's tip line at 919-227-6220 or the "America's Most Wanted" tip line at 1-800-CRIME-TV. Tips can also be reported to NC Wanted at 1-866-43-WANTED or submitted over the Web.

The family is offering up to $15,000 for information that leads to a conviction in the case.