Three women whose bodies were found in the Portland area (Photo: social media documentation under section 27A of the Copyright Law)
U.S. authorities are investigating whether there is a connection between the mysterious deaths of six women whose remains were found in and around Portland in recent months, and whether one killer is responsible for roaming free. However, they did not disclose whether they were looking for specific suspects.
According to local reports, the bodies of the six women were found within a 160km radius on the side of the road, in forests or isolated rural areas, from February to last month. The coroner's investigation is being conducted by five different law enforcement agencies, and at least three of them are coordinating to determine whether they are serial murders.
The last woman found was 22-year-old Ashley Reel, who was located in a wooded area on May 7 after she was last seen at Central Bus Station in late March. Another woman, Joanna Spix, also went missing in late March and her body was found in rural Clark County on April 8. Investigators said she died from blows to the head and neck, and to date, she is the only woman whose circumstances of death have been made public by authorities.
"I don't want to scare people, but women are dying in terrible numbers. That's reality," said her sister, Robin Spix. "We, as a family, talked to everyone else, shared, looked at the details," she added. "We talked to the detectives to see if there were any similarities."
The sheriff's office in Clackamas, Polk and Multanuma counties confirmed they were working with other agencies to investigate the deaths, the first of which came on Feb. 19, when the body of 22-year-old Kristin Smith was found in Portland after missing since December.
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