In February, four women’s remains started turning up in wooded areas of northwest Oregon, despite the fact that authorities at the time believed the incidents to be unrelated.
But today, prosecutors made a shocking revelation, claiming that they are connected and that “at least one person of interest” has been found.
According to prosecutors, the state medical examiner has not determined the cause or method of death for any of the ladies.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s office in Portland, however, declared that four of the six deaths are connected, reversing a statement made by the Portland Police Bureau on June 4 that said the deaths did not seem to be connected.
As a result of their cooperative work, investigators and prosecutors from various law enforcement agencies “have found connections between four cases: Kristin Smith, Charity Perry, Bridget Webster, and Ashley Real,” according to the prosecution.
According to them, “investigators have spoken to numerous people in relation to these cases and have identified at least one person of interest who is linked to all four.”
Although no one has been charged, the community is not currently in danger, according to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office in Portland.
A man is in custody, according to local media.
However, officials did not use such words while reporting the connection between the deaths, which led to online allegations of a serial killer.
Beginning on February 19, the bodies of the women were discovered in Portland and rural regions; the most recent was discovered on May 7.
Near a creek in Polk County, some 72 kilometres southwest of Portland, one body was discovered.
Smith, 22, was the first body found; it was located in a forested area in a Portland suburb.
On December 22, 2022, Smith’s absence was reported to Gresham police in the nearby suburb.
As family members looked for the then-missing woman, Hailey Smith, Kristin’s sister, told a Portland television station that “it’s quite like a piece of you is missing, that’s really the only way you can describe it.”
Near homeless shelters and other locations in downtown Portland, family members posted flyers and searched for Smith.
And more than 600 people are part of the private Justice for Kristin Smith Facebook page, which was started more than four months ago.
Perry died at the age of 24.
On April 24, her body was discovered close to a state park by the Columbia River, east of Portland.
In the remote northwest of Polk County, Webster’s body was discovered on April 30 close to Mill Creek.
She was 31 years old.
Real, 22, was last seen on March 27 at a fast food outlet close to Portland.
On April 4, she was reported missing.
On May 7, someone discovered her body in a woodland southeast of Portland.
On the cases, investigators from nine law enforcement organisations have been working together.
