East Cleveland officials fear more victims after bodies of three women found wrapped in plastic
July 21, 2013
EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio — Thirty to 40 law enforcement officials, assisted by search teams of residents, fanned out over East Cleveland today looking for additional victims of a killer who may have been influenced by Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell.
Police told the Associated Press that a suspect being held in jail indicated there might be more victims. They said they were looking for one or two more bodies, but would not say why.
The search resumed at noon today in the neighborhood where three dead women, their bodies wrapped in plastic, have been found since Friday.
East Cleveland Police Chief Ralph Spotts said searchers would focus on 50 to 60 abandoned buildings in the area as well as nearby railroad tracks.
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office has not yet identified the three black women found wrapped in multiple plastic bags near the intersection of Hayden and Shaw avenues. Police today were searching Strathmore Avenue nearby.
Michael Madison, 35, of Cleveland, was arrested Friday night after a two-hour standoff at his mother's home on Chickasaw Avenue. He has not been charged.
In police interviews, Madison led investigators to believe he might have been influenced by Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell, East Cleveland Mayor Gary Norton said Saturday in an interview with The Associated Press.
“He said some things that led us to believe that in some way, shape, or form, Sowell might be an influence,” Norton said.
Sowell is in prison on a death sentence after being found guilty in 2011 of killing 11 women and hiding their remains around his Cleveland home.
Authorities believe the women have been killed within the last 10 days. The first body, 5 feet three and 110 pounds, was found in a carport Friday morning near the corner of Hayden and Shaw avenues.
Police and FBI agents at the boarded-up home where bodies were found Saturday at Shaw and Hayden avenues in East Cleveland.
Joshua Gunter, The Plain Dealer
The other two bodies were found Saturday afternoon. One was in a weeded lot about 150 feet from the carport. She had a pink flower with green leaves tattooed on her left thigh. The third body was in the basement of a vacant home on East 139th Street, adjacent to the weedy lot. The body was near a broken window.
"I don't know if there are anymore bodies out there," Mayor Gary Norton said Saturday. "It is all tying back to the same guy.
East Cleveland police, the FBI, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office and Cleveland police are involved in the investigation. The law enforcement personnel are being aided dogs trained to find cadavers.
Residents told reporters Saturday that the suspect had been in the area talking aggressively to women.
Madison is a sexual offender who registered with the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office after being released from prison on an attempted rape conviction in 2002. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years. He was given the least serious offender status, which requires registration once a year for 10 years. His local criminal history otherwise includes drug possession and trafficking.
Source
1. Michael Madison - charged with three counts of murder. Officials found three bodies in or near his home over the weekend.
