- Detroit Police say they're searching for a possible serial killer and rapist they say has killed three sex workers in Detroit since mid March.

Police Chief James Craig announced during an impromptu press conference Wednesday that "they have the makings" of serial killer and rapist who has raped and killed three women, dating back to March 19.

According to Craig, the serial killer first struck on March 19th. Craig said another woman was killed on May 24 and a third victim was found Wednesday morning.

Craig said the suspect lures them into the building, sexually assaults them, and then kills them in that vacant building.

Craig said that the suspect is targeting women in their 50s and luring them into a vacant home and are asking sex workers to be cautious and give them information about a possible suspect.

This is a developing story. Stay with FOX 2 for more information. </s> DETROIT - Police are investigating a possible serial killer who they believe has been targeting sex workers in Detroit.

Detroit police Chief Craig acknowledge the murders of three women may all be related and the department believes the killer is a man.

Police are asking sex workers to come forward with any information they might have.

Craig said the investigation has nothing to do with apprehending and charging sex workers and "this is about apprehending a very violent suspect and getting him off the street."

Police said all three women were in their 50s and have ties to sex work. The latest victim was found Wednesday morning on Mack Avenue near Mt. Elliot inside of an abandoned home.

Craig said because the buildings are vacant, it can take days before bodies are located, which can make them difficult to identify.

READ: What we know: Detroit police investigating potential serial killer, rapist targeting sex workers </s> Detroit Police have arrested a person of interest in their hunt for a possible serial killer who may have killed least three women in the last three months.

Kenneth DeAngelo Martin, 34, who police described as homeless, was taken into custody on Friday, hours after Detroit Police Chief James Craig released a photo of Martin asking the public for any information on his whereabouts.

On Monday, Craig said that police are still actively investigating the case but based on work, they believe “this suspect is tied to all the crimes.”

Wayne County Prosecutors Office charged Martin in the May 7 non-fatal stabbing and sexual assault of a 26 year-old woman, the only victim that police said “deviated” from the suspected serial killer’s M.O of targetingsex workers in their 50s.

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Craig said police spoke to another woman who was attacked on June 3 and survived. She was assaulted in the same vacant building the third victim was found dead on June 5. Police described her as a woman in her 50’s who possibly was involved in sex work.

“Were confident he’s connected to all the cases we’ve described” Craig told reporters. Martin has not yet been charged with the homicides, but Craig said police anticipates he will soon.

Craig told reporters on Friday that police were still working on identifying the third victim. Craig described the victim as a 52 year-old, five foot tall, 100 pound African–American woman. He says her body was discovered 3-4 days after she died.

All the deceased victims were found in vacant homes.

Police were reaching out to sex workers in the area for tips, but said many were reluctant to speak to officers. He urged any sex workers in the area to “use extreme caution” when entering vacant homes. He also asked people who live near the crime scenes to reach out to police if they see any suspicious activity.

“We’re not trying to create fear in the community,” Craig said. “But it is a pause for concern for the sex workers who are out in our community engaged in sex acts. Right now it seems the suspects is targeting sex workers who engage in illicit sexual acts in vacant dwellings.”

Mel Baggett, the president of Night Angels, a Christian nonprofit that works with sex-trafficking victims in the Detroit area, says the women being targeted are particularly vulnerable.

“Because society looks at them in such a minimalist way, they are targets for hate crimes, beatings, assaults and rape,” he says. “These men say ‘Oh, she’s just a hooker, just a person on the street,’ so these people are victimized all the time.”

The first victim was found on March 19 on Detroit’s east side. Craig said that police discovered the decomposing body of a woman in a vacant building, but initially believed she had died of an overdose. Craig said on May 20 the medical examiner determined that the woman had actually died from blunt force trauma.

Then on May 24, police discovered the body of a second woman partially clothed in a vacant home. While the medical examiner has still not determined her cause of death, Craig said aspects of the crime are similar to the first, so there was “cause for concern.”

Then on June 5, a third woman’s body was discovered in a vacant building in the same area by a fellow sex worker. According to Craig, based on the investigation “It appears that this is a suspect who is targeting sex workers.”

He added he would not give further details as to why police believe the three deaths were linked, but said evidence from the investigation is consistent with just one suspect having committed the three murders. As of Thursday, police have not identified or released photos of the victims.

Detroit ranks as one of America’s most dangerous cities, with 267 killings in 2017, according to the FBI. The Detroit Police Department has also struggled with staffing shortages in recent years.

Baggett says news of a potential serial killer has brought attention to women on the streets of Detroit. But, there needs to be more awareness of how women end up in sex work in the first place to prevent this kind of violence from happening.

“This case is getting notoriety because police pieced it together, it could very well be a serial killer,” he says. “But we see this ugliness all the time, our friends getting assaulted, murdered, raped, robbed… The Detroit police are becoming enlightened to these issues and changing their perspective, but society in general are not.”

Write to Gina Martinez at gina.martinez@time.com. </s> DETROIT – Detroit police are looking for a serial killer and rapist that has killed at least three sex workers on the city’s east side.

Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said they have reason to believe that the suspect appears to be targeting prostitutes in their 50s, luring them to vacant homes and leaving their bodies there.

The investigation has been ongoing for several months and began on March 19 when police found a disrobed, decomposing female in a vacant home in the 20000 block of Coventry Street.

Police initially treated the death as a drug overdose, but a medical examiner’s report later found she was killed by blunt force trauma, Craig said.

Police have since found two more women who appear to have been killed in a similar fashion. The second woman was found in an empty home in the 13000 block of Linhurst Street on May 20.

“There were certain aspects of this crime that were very similar to the first so it was a cause for concern,” Craig said. "We don’t have a cause (of death) for the second one but based on what we’ve seen we think there is a probable connection.”

When a 53-year-old woman was found in a vacant home on Mack Avenue on Wednesday morning, police became convinced they had the "makings of a serial killer and rapist that's operating on the east side of Detroit."

Craig said all the killings involve sex workers and have occurred in vacant homes on Detroit’s east side. The case is the department’s highest priority investigation, Craig said.

He’s asking for help from the public and specifically the sex worker community to help catch the suspected killer.

“The sex worker community is generally not going to talk to us,” Craig said. “This is not about apprehending sex workers; it’s about apprehending a very violent predatory suspect. We need to get him off the street.”

The amount of time between the suspected murders and the discovery of the bodies is also a challenge, he said. </s> DETROIT, Mich. — Detroit police are looking for a possible serial killer and rapist they say may be targeting sex workers on the city’s east side.

Authorities have found the bodies of three women whose deaths appear to be connected, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said during a media briefing on Wednesday.

Police opened an investigation after discovering a partially dressed, deceased woman in a vacant building on March 19, Craig said. Investigators first believed that the woman had died of a drug overdose, but a medical examiner ruled that she died of blunt force trauma, he said.

The body of another woman was discovered in a vacant building five days later, Craig said. And on Wednesday, a sex worker reported walking into a vacant dwelling and discovering the “long deceased” body of a third woman, the chief said.

Police believe the suspect is targeting sex workers in their early 50s and that the cases are the act of one person. One victim was 52 years old and another was 53, Craig said.

“Of course, there is a reason why we are linking the three, but because we are still very early in this investigation we just want to identify the violent perpetrator,” Craig said.

Craig warned sex workers and people living near abandoned homes in the area where the bodies have been discovered to be cautious.

He also encouraged people to come forward with information.

“This is not about apprehending sex workers, this is about apprehending a very violent, predatory suspect,” he said.

The FBI defines serial murder as two or more killings separated by a span of time. A majority of serial killings are sexually motivated, according to the FBI. </s> Police in Detroit say they are tracking a possible serial killer who they believe has raped and murdered at least three women in the last three months.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig made the revelation Wednesday after a third victim was found earlier in the day.

According to Craig, police are searching for a man who is targeting sex workers in their 50s. All the victims were found in vacant homes.

Craig said police are reaching out to sex workers in the area for tips, but that many are reluctant to speak to officers. He urged any sex workers in the area to “use extreme caution” when entering vacant homes. He also asked people who live near the crime scenes to reach out to police if they see any suspicious activity.

“We’re not trying to create fear in the community,” Craig said. “But it is a pause for concern for the sex workers who are out in our community engaged in sex acts. Right now it seems the suspects is targeting sex workers who engage in illicit sexual acts in vacant dwellings.”

Mel Baggett, the president of Night Angels, a Christian nonprofit that works with sex-trafficking victims in the Detroit area, says the women being targeted are particularly vulnerable.

“Because society looks at them in such a minimalist way, they are targets for hate crimes, beatings, assaults and rape,” he says. “These men say ‘Oh, she’s just a hooker, just a person on the street,’ so these people are victimized all the time.”

The first victim was found on March 19 on Detroit’s east side. Craig said that police discovered the decomposing body of a woman in a vacant building, but initially believed she had died of an overdose. Craig said on May 20 the medical examiner determined that the woman had actually died from blunt force trauma.

Then on May 24, police discovered the body of a second woman partially clothed in a vacant home. While the medical examiner has still not determined her cause of death, Craig said aspects of the crime are similar to the first, so there was “cause for concern.”

Then on Wednesday, a third woman’s body was discovered in a vacant building in the same area by a fellow sex worker. According to Craig, based on the investigation “It appears that this is a suspect who is targeting sex workers.”

He added he would not give further details as to why police believe the three deaths were linked, but said evidence from the investigation is consistent with just one suspect having committed the three murders. As of Thursday, police have not identified or released photos of the victims.

Detroit ranks as one of America’s most dangerous cities, with 267 killings in 2017, according to the FBI. The Detroit Police Department has also struggled with staffing shortages in recent years.

Baggett says news of a potential serial killer has brought attention to women on the streets of Detroit. But, there needs to be more awareness of how women end up in sex work in the first place to prevent this kind of violence from happening.

“This case is getting notoriety because police pieced it together, it could very well be a serial killer,” he says. “But we see this ugliness all the time, our friends getting assaulted, murdered, raped, robbed… The Detroit police are becoming enlightened to these issues and changing their perspective, but society in general are not.” </s> • Detroit police are warning of a possible serial killer targeting sex workers in their 50s.
• Police Chief James Craig told reporters at a press conference Wednesday that three recent murders bore striking similarities – all women were sex workers found in empty homes on the city’s east side.
• The first woman was discovered dead in a building on March 19, the second on May 24, and the third on Wednesday. All women were in various stages of decomposition, Craig said.

Detroit police announced Wednesday that a possible serial killer and rapist has been targeting sex workers in their 50s.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig said three recent murders bore striking similarities – all of the women were sex workers, all were found fully or partially naked in vacant homes on the city’s east side, and two were in their early 50s.

He urged women to stay vigilant and avoid entering empty homes with people, and said people who live near vacant homes should speak up if they’ve seen anything suspicious. He also requested that members of the public to come forward if they have any information on the cases.

Craig told reporters at a press conference that they were specifically seeking out the help of sex workers in identifying a potential suspect, and acknowledged that it may be challenging to gain their trust.

“Sex worker communities are generally not going to talk to us,” Craig said. “This is not about apprehending sex workers, this is about apprehending a very violent, predatory suspect. We need to get him off the street.”

Read more: Dallas police believe they may have found a serial killer suspected of smothering elderly women with pillows before stealing their jewelry

It’s not the first possible serial killer authorities have reported in the US this year. Last month, Dallas police announced charges against a man they suspected of murdering at least 12 elderly women by smothering them with pillows.

Craig said the investigation started not long after they found a partly dressed woman dead in an empty building on March 19. Police initially thought she died of a drug overdose, but the medical examiner determined she actually died of blunt-force trauma.

On May 24, they found another woman’s body in a second vacant building. And on Wednesday, police found the third woman after a sex worker walked into an empty home and found a “long deceased” body, Craig said.

“This is an investigation based on what we believe to be a very significant pattern,” Craig said. “I’m not suggesting that there are other victims, but I am asking for the public’s help. We’re not trying to create fear in the community, but it is a cause for concern.”

Craig urged people to report any relevant information or suspicious activity by calling 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
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• Dallas police are asking the FBI and the public for help after 3 transgender women were killed in the last year </s> - The Detroit Police Department says it knows the signature of an east side serial killer - but they're not sharing it.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig talked to FOX 2 on Thursday, one day after announcing that the department was looking for a serial killer targeting women in their 50s who worked the streets. Craig is still urging all members of sex trade to be cautious but would not provide more information about who their suspect may be.

"We do not (have a profile). Except we know his signature," Craig said.

DPD: Serial killer targeting sex workers lures them to abandoned houses

 Detroit Police say they're searching for possible serial killer, rapist

 Woman's body found in vacant house on Mack Ave near Mt Elliot

Out of a concern of inspiring copycat, Craig would not reveal that trademark signature - and would not say if they've collected DNA.

Craig said that it doesn't matter where these women are from or what they do - they don't deserve what's happened.

Tips have already started coming into the Detroit Police Department since Craig announced the serial rapist and killer on Wednesday.

"If he is watching, we're going to find you," Craig said.

Craig announced the search for the serial killer Wednesday, saying that sex workers were being targeted on the city's east side.

Nancy Harrison, 52, is the first known victim. She was found naked and bludgeoned inside an abandoned home on Detroit's east side back on March 19.

On May 24, police made another gruesome discovery, finding 53-year-old Trevesene Ellis' body in an empty house on the 13000 block of Linnhurst near Seven Mile and Schoenherr.

And on Wednesday, police found a third sex worker. She was also naked and dead inside of a vacant home on on the 3000 block of Mack.

All three women were raped before they were murdered.

"This suspect is luring his victims into abandoned homes - so this is a way of saying be cautious don't go into abandoned homes to commit your illicit act. Don't do it," Craig said.

Anyone who may have encountered a situation like this or knows anything about what happened is asked to call Crimestoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP. </s> A serial killer may be on the loose in Detroit.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig announced Wednesday that police were on the hunt for a serial killer who appears to be targeting sex workers in their 50s.

So far, three women, who have yet to be identified, have been killed.

Craig says all three women were found partially clothed or nude in various stages of decomposition when they were discovered in abandoned homes on the east side of Detroit.

“It is the same signature on all three victims,” Craig tells PEOPLE. “He is watching me to figure out what we know. I say right to him, ‘We are going to find you.’”

Craig suspects that the “violent predator” most likely has been to prison and lives somewhere on Detroit’s east side.

“[Serial killers] have a higher level of comfort on the side of town they reside,” he says.

“It will be interesting once we arrest him to find out what his background is,” he says. “We are looking at other cases that have a similar signature but we haven’t found that yet.”

Craig is no stranger to serial killer investigations.

He was a vice officer in Los Angeles in the 1980s when the Grim Sleeper serial killer Lonnie Franklin Jr. was prowling the streets of South Central.

“This was somebody we were looking for for a good part of time while I was in LA,” he says.

Franklin was eventually caught through familial DNA testing in 2010 and was sentenced to death for the murders of 10 women and the attempted murder of another for his 23-year killing spree.

In Detroit, the decomposing body of the killer’s first victim, a Caucasian woman, was discovered March 19 inside a vacant dwelling. Craig says initially the police department believed the woman died of an overdose but on May 20 the Medical Examiner determined that she died as a result of blunt force trauma.

Four days after the coroner’s ruling, on May 24, an African American woman was found dead inside a home on the east side.

A sex worker found the third victim on Wednesday. Craig says they have yet to determine the woman’s age, ethnicity and how she died but “given the signature we think the same suspect is involved.”

However, it has been a challenge attempting to determine the dates of the killings because the bodies were found in various states of decomposition so they could have been there for weeks or months. The murders have also taken place in isolated areas with no witnesses.

Craig says they are reaching out to community activists to help alert sex workers, particularly those who work inside vacant homes, that a serial killer is out there.

“We don’t have a very open trusting relationship [with sex workers],” he says. “Most of the time it is because we are enforcing the law.”

The community activists will help “open up the conversation,” he says.

“We need to make them aware there is a possibility of a serial killer targeting sex workers,” he says. “They think nobody cares. That is someone’s daughter and child. They are part of our community. I have shined a very bright light on this community.”
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Investigators are also hoping that the sex workers can provide vital clues as to who this person is.

Since the Wednesday announcement, the police department has received numerous tips.

“There have been three incidents and hopefully we won’t find any more bodies,” he says.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig announces the department is looking for a possible serial killer in three unsolved murders of sex workers in the city dating back to March.