An official with an FBI office that helps investigate serial killings is assisting in the investigation into last month’s unsolved slaying of an attorney at her home in rural Lawrence.

But Douglas County Sheriff Rick Trapp said investigators didn’t believe the death of 40-year-old Carmin Ross was a serial killing.

“We’ve not developed anything to indicate this is a serial homicide,” Trapp said, speaking about the investigation into the death of Ross, whose body was found Nov. 14 at her home near Lakeview Lake north of Lawrence.

Trapp confirmed Tuesday that an official from the FBI’s National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime had joined the probe. The center oversees a database designed to help catch serial killers by comparing information from violent crimes nationwide.

But that’s not what the FBI is doing in this case. Instead, the agent will review the information collected so far, suggest other possible leads and decide whether the case should be submitted to expert criminal profilers at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Va., FBI spokesman Jeff Lanza said.

“A profile, in general terms, gives you information about the suspect — what gender the suspect is, their age, their race. It also talks about possible motivation,” Lanza said.

Lanza said that as far as he knew, no decision had been made about whether to send information about Ross’ death to the profilers. That usually doesn’t happen until all local leads have been exhausted, he said.

“It’s pretty early in this investigation to be consulting with the profiling people,” he said.

Lanza declined to identify the FBI official involved locally in the case but said his title was a “profiling coordinator.”

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“It’s really a consulting role more than anything,” Lanza said.

Trapp said the FBI involvement was just one portion of his agency’s investigation. As of Tuesday, he had 14 employees assigned to the crime, and investigators had talked to more than 200 people.

Sheriff’s officials will not say whether there are any suspects nor will they release the suspected cause of death for Ross, who was a mediator, peace advocate and mother of a 4-year-old girl. A baby sitter interviewed by detectives said they asked her repeatedly whether there were knives in the house.

Police already have stopped drivers near Ross’ home on East 1150 Road, searched the home of Ross’ ex-husband — an English professor at Kansas State University — and interviewed faculty and students at K-State.

Trapp said because of concerns about harming the investigation, he couldn’t reveal any details about what he wanted the FBI official to examine.

“We’re just drawing upon their expertise and their knowledge,” he said. “They may be able to help us analyze and confirm some of the information we’ve developed. That’s all I can tell you.”