Jenn Gibbons, rowing around Lake Michigan, speaks out after sexual assault

(BATTLE CREEK ENQUIRER) - The former Battle Creek woman who was sexually assaulted while rowing around Lake Michigan has vowed to continue.

Jennifer Gibbons, a 2003 graduate of Lakeview High School, said in a post on her website that she will resume her trip next week with additional security and precautions.

"Most importantly, I will no longer be alone," she said.

"I know that I had a choice in telling people about the details of my attack, particularly that it was a sexual assault," Gibbons wrote Tuesday on Facebook. "To go through this at all, let alone publicly, is extremely difficult. I chose to talk about it in the hope that someone might be able to provide more information about the person who did this to me."

The Michigan State Police St. Ignace Post reports the assault occurred early Sunday south of Gulliver in Mueller Township, Schoolcraft County.

Gibbons said on her website, row4row.org, that she will bike with a security detail to Muskegon, where she will reboard her boat, Liv, sometime next week and continue her journey on water, with added security.
"My chin is up, my eyes are open, and we're going to get this show back on the road," Gibbons said on her website.
Gibbons said in the statement she hopes to reach Chicago sometime in mid-August.

Sgt. Michael Powell of the St. Ignace Post said today investigators have received numerous leads and continue to investigate, but had no further information as of 11:15 a.m. Powell said police were flying in a forensic artist to get a sketch of the suspect.

Powell said Gibbons' boat, called Liv, was tied up on a dock and the suspect walked down the dock and boarded the boat. Powell said he did not know if the dock was public or private. He said police have found no witnesses.

Investigators have reason to believe the assailant traveled a significant distance to commit the assault, the state police report said.

Gibbons could not remember ever having met the man, Powell said, but might have met him at one of the many times she docked to speak to groups and raise funds for Recovery on Water, or ROW, the nonprofit Gibbons founded.

"The suspect is described as a white male in his 30s, approximately 5'8" to 6' tall, with a fair amount of facial stubble hair, but not a full beard nor mustache," the report said. "The man has light eyes, an average to athletic build and shorter well-kept hair. He was wearing a grayish green t-shirt, jean shorts and tennis shoes."

The report goes on to say that a bright yellow Jeep Wrangler, with a spare tire with a yellow smiley face cover, was seen in the area.

Gibbons, 27, lives in Chicago. The Battle Creek native became competitive at the college level as a member of the crew team at Michigan State University.

Gibbons started her journey to raise money for breast cancer from Chicago on June 15, rowing 10 hours at a time or about 30 miles a day, stopping to sleep and at various ports along the shores of Lake Michigan to share the mission of Recovery on Water (ROW), a charitable organization that Gibbons founded that gives breast cancer survivors the opportunity to interact, become active in their recovery, and gain support from fellow survivors.

"I still believe that there are more good people in the world than bad," she stated on her website. "I still believe that life is a gift, even when it's scary and unfair. I still believe that life offers us the privilege, the opportunity, and the responsibility, to give something back, even when people try to take things away from us."

At the Lakeview School District board meeting Monday night, board President Kathleen Moore called on the community to pray for Gibbons.

"I just can't get my head around the evil that goes into an act like that," Moore said. "Please keep her in your thoughts."

Police ask anyone with information or investigative leads to call toll-free at 1-866-411-0018.