Police fear a serial killer could be loose following the mysterious deaths of six women whose remains were found within 100 miles of each other.
Since February this year the women's bodies have been found on the sides of roads, in the woods or in secluded rural areas, in Oregon, US, KGW8 reported.
All the bodies were found in the greater Portland area, and the deaths are being considered suspicious.
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The deaths being investigated are that of 22-year-old Kristin Smith, Joanna Speaks, 32, Charity Lynn Perry, 24, Bridget Leann Ramsey Webster, 31, Ashley Real, 22 and an unidentified woman.
Five different law enforcement agencies are investigating the women’s deaths — and at least three of the agencies have said they are working with the others to determine if the cases could be connected and have a single perpetrator, according to officials and the local publication.
In the most recent case, 22-year-old Ashley Real was found dead in a heavily wooded area near Eagle Creek on May 7 after she was last seen at a transit centre in late March.
Mum-of-two Joanna Speaks also vanished in late March and her body was found in a rural area of Clark County on April 8.
Speaks’ is the only woman whose cause of death has been revealed by authorities.
She died of blunt force trauma to the head and neck, according to the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office, which declared her death a homicide.
Her sister, Robyn Speaks told KGW8, that she is concerned about the number of women in the area showing up dead.
“I don’t want to ever scare people but reality is there are women dying at awful numbers,” Robyn said.
“With each one, we as a family, we’ve talked about it, shared it, looked at the details,” she added. “We’ve talked to the detectives to see if there are any similarities.”
A spokesperson for the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating one of the deaths, told The Post: “We are working with our partner agencies to determine if there are any connections between this case in Clackamas County and any others in the region.”
The Polk and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Offices also said they are speaking with partner agencies about the deaths.
The other female deaths in the area include Bridget Webster’s remains were discovered on April 30 in Polk County, the local sheriff said.
A week before that grisly discovery, Charity Perry’s body was found in Ainsworth State Park on April 24, after vanishing in early March.
Also on April 24, the body of an unidentified Native American woman was found near Interstate 205 and Southeast Flavel Street in Portland.
Kristin Smith disappearing in December 2022, but was found dead in Portland on February 19.
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