Police have identified 32-year-old Troy Robertson as the assailant in a string of sexual assaults dating back to 1998.

After tracking Robertson since Dec. 14, the Ingham County Sheriff’s Department contacted East Lansing police to inform them Robertson had committed suicide on Dec. 27.

The Michigan State Police crime lab was able to match Robertson’s DNA with DNA collected from five sexual assault cases, East Lansing police Lt. Kevin Daley said.

Robertson was a Mason resident and an employee in the MSU Controller’s Office.

Daley said he is almost positive that Robertson also was the offender in the 11 other sexual assault cases because the suspect was wearing an orange ski mask in all 16 cases.

“There aren’t a lot of people running around with orange ski masks,” Daley said. “We have a strong belief that this is the same individual.”

An unidentified number of MSU students and employees were victims of the sexual assaults.

East Lansing police Chief Tom Wibert said police had conducted surveillance routines in the neighborhoods where the offender struck in the sexual assaults since the first report in 1998.

Wibert and Daley both said the suspect sexually assaulted women on Kedzie, Gunson, Ann, Elizabeth, Orchard, Charles and Center streets, among others.

Wibert said the offender would strike periodically throughout the year, with more offenses around holidays.

The assaults typically occurred in the early morning hours, around 5-7 a.m.

On Dec. 14, an East Lansing police detective was on routine undercover surveillance north of downtown East Lansing when he noticed Robertson driving suspiciously through the area.

The detective made contact with Robertson and recorded his license plate number.

When East Lansing police contacted Robertson to come into the station for an interview and DNA test, he did not show up, Wibert said.

“He piqued our curiosity when he didn’t come in,” Daley said.

Wibert said Robertson used a variety of methods to sexually assault the victims.

In the earlier years, he would peek into windows and jump in front of cars, exposing himself in front of the victims.

As the years progressed, he began entering houses with no clothing on and forcing himself upon the victim.

In more recent attacks, he entered unoccupied houses and used the victims’ cameras to take pictures of himself masturbating.

Wibert said there were no serious injuries reported from the incidents. Robertson’s family’s lawyer, Chris Bergstrom, issued a statement Tuesday on the matter.

“On behalf of the deceased’s immediate family, as well as his extended family, I have been asked to convey their condolences to all victims and their families who have been hurt by the actions of the deceased,” Bergstrom said in the statement.

Daley and Wibert said they are relieved to have cracked an investigation that has been pending for so long.

“I have laid awake at night thinking about this case because you never know when he is going to strike,” Wibert said.

“It’s a miracle that we caught him.”