Our online readers have requested the status of the hate crime cases

reported to police during the last year by Rachel Dolezal, the former

director of education at the Human Rights Education Institute.

Last September, a noose was found on the porch of a Spokane home where

Dolezal was living.

That investigation has been suspended since last fall. Spokane Police

Officer Jennifer DeRuwe reported Tuesday that detectives followed

several leads but turned up nothing. If new information becomes

available, they will reactivate the case.

Of the three cases filed with the Coeur d’Alene Police Department, two

are inactive with no leads at this time. That includes a June incident

when a noose was found hanging outside Dolezal’s Coeur d’Alene home,

and an Aug. 5 incident when a swastika sticker was placed on the door

of the Human Rights Education Institute.

Video recorded by a security camera installed inside the institute did

not capture an image of a suspect the night the swastika sticker was

placed on the institute’s glass front door. Coeur d’Alene Police Sgt.

Christie Wood said her department’s reports indicate the camera “was

not working at the time,” but did not indicate why.

“We had a power surge, a power outage kind of thing, which reset our

system the week before that happened,” Dolezal told The Press on

Wednesday. “Donna was working with the security people. It wasn't

until that happened that I realized there was no monitoring going on.”

Donna Cork, the institute’s former director of operations, found the

sticker on the door in the morning when she reported for work. Cork

has not been employed at the institute for several months, and could

not be reached for comment.

A third incident in Coeur d’Alene, a report of phone harassment, was

made by Dolezal. She did not report this incident to the media when it

occurred in April.

A Coeur d’Alene police officer responded to Dolezal's home and

recorded an audio message found on her phone as evidence.

The report indicates the phone number of the caller was restricted,

and police were unable to locate a person with the name left on the

threatening message. According to the report, the female caller

identified herself as “Brenda Laflortin.”

The caller accused Dolezal, who is an instructor at North Idaho

College, of “getting high and sleeping with black people in her

class,” and further stated that Rachel “needs to be very scared.”

Dolezal told police she wanted to press charges, but the city

prosecutor’s office declined due to lack of sufficient evidence.

City Attorney Wes Summerton said they could not prosecute without a suspect.

Coeur d’Alene Police ask anyone with information on these crimes to

please contact the police department at 769-2320.