Post by Sher on May 8, 2005 2:16:04 GMT -5
Task force investigates another body found in field
Rob Drinkwater
Canadian Press
Saturday, May 07, 2005
EDMONTON (CP) -- Another body was found in a field on the outskirts of Alberta's capital late Friday night, prompting speculation that whoever is responsible for a string of prostitute murders may have struck again.
RCMP said on Saturday that it was too early to tell if the body was male or female, or how long it had been there.
But RCMP Cst. Darren Anderson said Project Kare, the task force investigating earlier discoveries of women's bodies around the city, has been called to take part in the investigation just in case.
"It's better they be involved right away in case there is a connection," Anderson said.
The body was discovered by a farmer who was tilling the field in a tractor shortly after 11 p.m. Friday. The farmer had been planning to work all night, police said.
As soon as he found the body, he called RCMP. Officers sealed off the area until Saturday morning, when white-suited forensics investigators arrived and set up a blue tent over the remains.
Anderson said investigators would continue working at the scene on Saturday, and that teams of searchers would begin combing the surrounding area on Sunday for clues.
The body was found a short distance from a busy four-lane highway northeast of Edmonton, but the area cannot be easily seen from the highway because of a hill.
The field is only a few kilometres west of the site where the slain bodies of two sex-trade workers, Monique Pitre and Melissa Munch, were found in January 2003.
Jean Archer, whose family farm is just south of the field where the body was found Friday, said she believes one person is behind the killings.
"I think it's somebody who knows the area pretty well," said Archer, who grew up on the property and raised her own children there. "This is some maniac on a rampage."
The bodies of five prostitutes have been dumped south and east of Edmonton in the past two years and RCMP have said there could be a link between some of killings. Since 1988, there have been at least 10 unsolved prostitute murders.
The RCMP have set up Project Kare to investigate the unsolved deaths of at least 18 prostitutes across the province, some dating back 20 years.
An American homicide expert, Det. John Norwood of the Baton Rouge, La., police force, said earlier this month that Mounties are on the trail of a serial killer.
"From my impressions, I think they are. Yes. They allowed us to look at crime-scene photos," Norwood said. "It appeared that the mode of death was similar. The displacing of the bodies was similar."
Alberta Solicitor General Harvey Cenaiko has also said he believes police are looking for someone who has killed more than once.
But RCMP spokesman Cpl. Wayne Oakes said that police have not concluded that a serial-killer may be responsible. To conclude anything more, Oakes said, would narrow their focus to the point where they may miss a clue.
Anderson said Saturday it was too early to speculate on a connection between the most recent discovery and any of the earlier cases.
Sally Froese, a mother of four young boys who lives just north of the field, said the discovery of another body in the area is disturbing.
"We go out walking on the field. It's horrifying to think my boys could have found it," Froese said.
Rob Drinkwater
Canadian Press
Saturday, May 07, 2005
EDMONTON (CP) -- Another body was found in a field on the outskirts of Alberta's capital late Friday night, prompting speculation that whoever is responsible for a string of prostitute murders may have struck again.
RCMP said on Saturday that it was too early to tell if the body was male or female, or how long it had been there.
But RCMP Cst. Darren Anderson said Project Kare, the task force investigating earlier discoveries of women's bodies around the city, has been called to take part in the investigation just in case.
"It's better they be involved right away in case there is a connection," Anderson said.
The body was discovered by a farmer who was tilling the field in a tractor shortly after 11 p.m. Friday. The farmer had been planning to work all night, police said.
As soon as he found the body, he called RCMP. Officers sealed off the area until Saturday morning, when white-suited forensics investigators arrived and set up a blue tent over the remains.
Anderson said investigators would continue working at the scene on Saturday, and that teams of searchers would begin combing the surrounding area on Sunday for clues.
The body was found a short distance from a busy four-lane highway northeast of Edmonton, but the area cannot be easily seen from the highway because of a hill.
The field is only a few kilometres west of the site where the slain bodies of two sex-trade workers, Monique Pitre and Melissa Munch, were found in January 2003.
Jean Archer, whose family farm is just south of the field where the body was found Friday, said she believes one person is behind the killings.
"I think it's somebody who knows the area pretty well," said Archer, who grew up on the property and raised her own children there. "This is some maniac on a rampage."
The bodies of five prostitutes have been dumped south and east of Edmonton in the past two years and RCMP have said there could be a link between some of killings. Since 1988, there have been at least 10 unsolved prostitute murders.
The RCMP have set up Project Kare to investigate the unsolved deaths of at least 18 prostitutes across the province, some dating back 20 years.
An American homicide expert, Det. John Norwood of the Baton Rouge, La., police force, said earlier this month that Mounties are on the trail of a serial killer.
"From my impressions, I think they are. Yes. They allowed us to look at crime-scene photos," Norwood said. "It appeared that the mode of death was similar. The displacing of the bodies was similar."
Alberta Solicitor General Harvey Cenaiko has also said he believes police are looking for someone who has killed more than once.
But RCMP spokesman Cpl. Wayne Oakes said that police have not concluded that a serial-killer may be responsible. To conclude anything more, Oakes said, would narrow their focus to the point where they may miss a clue.
Anderson said Saturday it was too early to speculate on a connection between the most recent discovery and any of the earlier cases.
Sally Froese, a mother of four young boys who lives just north of the field, said the discovery of another body in the area is disturbing.
"We go out walking on the field. It's horrifying to think my boys could have found it," Froese said.