Police release sketch of suspect in brutal East Vancouver assault

Vancouver police have released a video and a sketch of a suspect after aviolent assault on a sex-trade workerin East Vancouver last week.

Around 8 p.m. PT on March 5,a man picked up the 42-year-old woman in the Downtown Eastside. He then drove her to a secluded area where she was allegedly beaten and tied up.

Police say they received several 911 calls half an hour later describing a woman being dragged by a van on Clark Drive near 13th Avenue. The woman had managed to partially free herself and, fearing for her life, jumped from the moving van.

The suspect is described by police as a white, balding man with a tanned complexion and a moustache or goatee. It's possible he may have an Australian accent.

He was driving a white panel van with roof racks.