Update June 20, 2021 — Authorities have identified the victim as 31-year-old Anat Kimchi of Maryland.
A 31-year-old woman was fatally stabbed by a man who attacked her on a Loop street corner Saturday afternoon, police said. An online search shows the woman has recently been a criminal justice doctoral candidate in Maryland. The offender, believed to be a homeless man, remains at large.
Police and fire personnel responded to a person stabbed at 401 South Wacker around 3:35 p.m., according to dispatch records. Police said the woman was on the sidewalk when the man pulled out a knife and began stabbing her in the upper back. Initial reports said she was bleeding from her neck area. She was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, but doctors were unable to save her.
Witnesses told police the offender fled south on Wacker toward a tunnel area. They said he is a slim Black male with long dreadlocks who wore a red bandana and a blue tank top. Police believe he removed the tank top as he fled.
Less than two blocks from the iconic Willis Tower, police worked a crime scene where the woman’s backpack sat next to a large amount of blood on the sidewalk.
Officials have not publicly identified the woman. However, her online presence includes many references to her being a high-performing doctoral candidate who studied criminal justice. She is also listed as a research worker at a criminal justice research group in suburban Washington, DC. She was carrying a Maryland driver’s license.
Area Three detectives are investigating.