Between February and May, four women were found dead in woodland areas around Portland in the US state of Oregon.
The case is referred to as a mystery in the US media, and police have made it clear that they do not believe there is a connection between the deaths.
Four women Kristen Smith (22), Charity Lynn Perry (24), Bridget Lynn Webster (31) and Ashley Real (22) were found dead between February 19 and May 7 this year.
All of them are found in wooded areas around Portland, Oregon, USA.
Now the police have turned around: this week they announced that they believe The deaths are still connectedand that they have at least one person in their sights.
– I hope we get it
Police have not said anything about how the four women died, or why they believe the man in question is involved in the case. He has not been charged with anything yet.
– I really hope that this is the answer. I don’t know, I guess I’m still in shock after all, but I just wish we had, Kristen Smith’s mom Melissa Smit tells the channel Kato TV.
The daughter was reported missing in December, and was found two months later.
says Charity Lynn Perry’s mother, Diana Allen AP news agency She received the news through the media, although she is in regular contact with those investigating the case.
– There is a lot that I do not know, but the detective and I understand why. We don’t want anything to spoil this investigation, she says.
Allen says she was told her daughter had died sometime during April.
Released in 2021
The man the police now believe had something to do with the deaths is actually in prison.
He was sentenced for auto theft and burglary in 2019, but received a reduced sentence after helping put out bushfires in the local area in 2021. He should have been released in the summer of 2022 anyway – months before the four women were reported missing.
“I am utterly horrified on behalf of the victims, their families, and everyone else who has been affected by these losses,” former Oregon Governor Kate Brown said in a statement to the Associated Press.
It was she who secured the man’s release from prison earlier than planned, on the grounds that he posed no danger to the local community.
He was sent back to jail in late June of this year, after Multnomah County District Attorney Todd Jackson sent a letter to authorities requesting it.
—Since his release from custody, he has engaged in criminal activity that is now under investigation in Oregon, he wrote, among other things.
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