Grim Sleeper Serial Killer May Have More Victims

Los Angeles - The man suspected of being the Grim Sleeper serial killer accused in the deaths of 10 women may be linked to eight more possible victims, Los Angeles police said today.

Lonnie David Franklin Jr., 57, a one-time city employee, has been locked up since his July 7, 2010, arrest. He is charged with killing 10 women, many of them prostitutes, and dumping their remains in alleys and trash bins around South Los Angeles.

In December, police made public images of dozens of women, photos of whom were found in Franklin's home near 81st Street and Harvard Boulevard.

At a news conference today, detectives showed photos of eight women they believe may be linked to Franklin. Six of the women were reported missing, one was murdered and one remains unidentified.

"The families of those young ladies came to us last July after the arrest of Mr. Franklin. They brought to our attention that they had similar lifestyles of the other victims," LAPD Detective Dennis Kilcoyne said.

The known murder victim was identified as Inez Warren, who was found shot in an alley off Western Avenue between 103rd and 104th streets on Aug. 15, 1988, and died a short time later in a hospital. Police said Warren had a similar lifestyle -- narcotics and prostitution -- as the other Grim Sleeper victims.

Three of the missing women were linked to Franklin by "strong circumstantial evidence recovered at Franklin's residence," Kilcoyne said. He said ID's of Ayellah Marshall and Rolenia Morris were found at Franklin's home along with a third photograph of an unidentified woman. They were found in a separate stash Franklin kept in a refrigerator in his garage, where a photo of Janecia Peters -- the most recent murder Franklin is accused of committing -- was also kept.

"So obviously we hope for the best. ...We wish nothing more than to find them alive and well. But the circumstances are gloomy," Kilcoyne said.

The other three missing women had similar lifestyles to other victims and frequented Franklin's neighborhood prior to their disappearance, police said.

In addition to Marshall and Morris, the other known missing women were identified as Cathern Davis, Rosalind Giles, Lisa Knox and Anita Parker, whose family members attended the afternoon news conference.

The women were reported missing as far back as 1982, and the most recent was in 2006.

Asked if police were close to recommending more charges against Franklin, Kilcoyne said there is an agreement between the police department and the District Attorney's Office for the existing case against Franklin to move forward while detectives continue to investigate additional leads.

"(New charges) would be like starting over again the wheel of justice that's slowly turning right now for Mr. Franklin. And we don't want to create that problem for the court system," Kilcoyne said, adding that new charges are not out of the question down the road.

Given outstanding number of photos of unidentified women found at Franklin's residence, Kilcoyne said he does not believe the Grim Sleeper took time off from killing. He was initially dubbed the Grim Sleeper due to a large gap between groups of killings.

"Personally I don't think so at all. I think we're going to start filling in that gap," he said.

According to police, 55 of the women depicted in the 180 photos released in December remain unidentified. Kilcoyne said police were able to speak to one of the unidentified women this morning and said she is alive and fine. Police asked for the public's help identifying the remaining missing women.

Anyone with more information about the women or Franklin was urged to call (877) LAPD-24-7.