Investigators are examining whether the deaths of six women in and around Oregon’s largest city over the past three months are connected, KGW8 reports.
“I don’t want to ever scare people but also, reality is there are women dying at just awful numbers,” Robyn Speaks told the television station.
Speaks’ sister, Joanna Speaks (pictured), vanished in March and her body was found in early April in Ridgefield, Washington, inside a barn on an abandoned property. Ridgefield is about 22 miles north of Portland, Oregon, the epicenter of the deaths.
Investigators determined that Joanna died by homicide from blunt force trauma to her neck and head. The body is believed to have been moved to the barn.
Authorities have not disclosed how the other women died.
The Portland Police Bureau and multiple sheriff’s offices are reportedly probing the deaths, including several agencies that are exploring any potential connections.
A Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson confirmed to the New York Post that investigators are considering potential links between the deceased women.
“As we do with all investigations of this nature, our detectives are following up on every lead in this case, including several tips that are coming in from the public and comments being made on social media,” the spokesperson told the Post. “We are working with our partner agencies to determine if there are any connections between this case in Clackamas County and any others in the region.”
All the women were found in in secluded or wooded areas within 100 miles of each other and are believed to have regularly visited or lived in Oregon. The bodies of two women were found the same day, while two of the deceased were discovered less than three miles from each other in southeast Portland, according to the Oregonian newspaper.
On February 19, remains belonging to 22-year-old Kristin Smith were found in a wooded section of the Pleasant Valley neighborhood in Portland. She was reported missing December 22.
After Speaks was found on April 8, sheriff’s deputies in Multnomah County found 24-year-old Charity Lynn Perry on April 24 in a culvert near Ainsworth State Park. Authorities have not released information about Perry’s death except to say it was suspicious and under investigation.
Perry was known to visit an area that once was an open-air fentanyl market in downtown Portland.
Also on April 24, the body of an unidentified woman was found in the Lents neighborhood of Portland, less than three miles from scene where Smith’s body had been discovered. The victim may be Native American or Native Alaskan and likely between 25 and 40 years of age. She was described as having black, medium-length hair and was slightly over 5 feet tall at about 135 pounds.
The unidentified woman had two scars on the lower part of her left leg. She also had a black music note tattoo on the upper-left-side of her chest and a Buddha tattoo on her upper-right back. When she was found, the woman was wearing a green long-sleeved shirt, black-and-white zip-up jacket, jeans and black-and-white Adidas cleats. She also was wearing bracelets and rings.
On April 30, the body of 31-year-old Bridget Leann Ramsey Webster was found in northwest Polk County on Harmony Road near Mill Creek. Police are investigating the death as suspicious.
And on May 7, the body of 22-year-old Ashley Real was found in a wooded area near Eagle Creek by a man who was fishing near a pond. Real had vanished March 27 in southeast Portland, where she was last seen leaving a fast-food restaurant. Her death also is being investigated as suspicious.
The women’s deaths have prompted concerns among some Portland residents that a serial killer may be the connecting link, NewsNation reports.
Still, Robyn Speaks, the sister of one of the women, said whether or not any of the deaths are linked, the victims still matter.
“It’s just so heartbreaking and it’s really hard to put into words, I guess, how heartbreaking it is,” Speaks told KGW8. “No matter the circumstances that’s someone’s baby.”
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[Feature Photo: Joanna Speaks/Facebook]
