CLEVELAND, Nov. 2, 2009
Ohio Slay Probe Focuses on Missing Women
Investigators Trying to ID 6 Bodies Found in Home of Sex Offender are Focusing Inquiry on 8 or 9 Missing Women
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This undated photo released by the Cleveland Police Department shows Anthony E. Sowell. Police in Cleveland have arrested Sowell, a convicted sex offender after they found as many as six bodies at his house. (AP Photo/Cleveland Police)
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A Cuyahoga County coroner van leaves the home of Anthony Sowell (inset) on the east side of Cleveland, Oct. 30, 2009 carrying a victim discovered in the house. Police who went to a home looking for a rape suspect found decomposing bodies upstairs and what appeared to be a freshly dug grave in the basement. (AP/John Kuntz, Plain Dealer; CPD)
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It could take days or weeks to identify the bodies using dental records or DNA mouth-swab samples from relatives. Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank Miller said his office has begun the "arduous" process of collecting materials from dentists and relatives.
The six women were black and five of them had been strangled, authorities said. The cause of death of the sixth hadn't been determined.
The investigation will pay close attention to missing women who were living alone, were homeless or had drug or alcohol problems, Miller said.
The bodies were discovered last week after a woman reported being raped at the east-side home of 50-year-old Anthony Sowell.
Crimesider: Identifying the Victims at Sowell's Home
PICTURES: Anthony Sowell's Home of Horror
Armed with search and arrest warrants, police went to the home Thursday to arrest Sowell on a rape and felonious assault warrant. He wasn't there, but police found two bodies. Police found the other remains on Friday and arrested Sowell on Saturday.
Sowell hasn't been charged in the rape investigation or in connection with the bodies. Court records and jail officials had no information about whether he had an attorney. Police typically have 72 hours - in this case it would be until Tuesday - to charge or release a suspect.
Detectives will seek a warrant to take a DNA sample from Sowell in connection with the homicide investigation, police spokesman Lt. Thomas Stacho said Monday. Investigators also will track his residence history back four years to the time of his release from serving a sentence for rape.
Police will look at unsolved homicides with similarities to see if there are connections to the case, Stacho said.
Police don't believe the Sowell property has more bodies, but Stacho said investigators would send a cadaver dog to the house.
Sowell served 15 years in prison for choking and the attempted rape of a 21-year-old woman in 1989 (See editor's note below).
He was a registered sex offender and, after his release from prison, was required to check in regularly at the sheriff's office, which said he complied. Officers also visited his home, most recently on Sept. 22, just hours before the woman reported being raped there.
The three-story house sits in a crowded inner-city neighborhood of mostly older homes, some of them boarded up.
Sowell often asked for money and scoured the neighborhood for scrap metal to sell, neighbors said.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Associated Press has withdrawn reports referring to Sowell as a "convicted rapist." The AP says that Sowell was only convicted of attempted rape, according to police.
© MMIX The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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- We absolutely must reform our parole system. We need parole officers to have different training and backgrounds. Some would be specialists in alcohol/drug abuse so that they can spot someone who is using again. Others would be trained in counseling and job and education help. And some would be criminal psychologists. I'm willing to bet this man's parole officer had no idea how to deal with a crazy person - our current system is to take a crazy person and put him in jail for a while and hope he gets better. People like this do not get better, there is no cure and they will do it again. Thank goodness his most recent victim had the great good luck to escape with her life and the tremendous courage to report her attack (many do not).
- Reply to this comment
- this guy should have never been released
hev should be sentenced to life in prison - Reply to this comment
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