OAN’s Noah Herring
3:30 PM – Monday, June 5, 2023
An investigation is underway after six women were found dead in less than 3 months in secluded areas of Portland, Oregon.
Five different law enforcement agencies are involved with the investigation of the women’s deaths. At least three of these agencies have stated that they are working to determine if the cases are connected and have a single perpetrator, though authorities have said they have yet to find evidence that the cases are connected.
“These discussions have led to some anxiety and fear in our community, and we want to provide reassurance that the speculation is not supported by the facts available at this point,” the department said in the statement.
The bodies of the six women were found within 100 miles of each other on the sides of roads, in the woods, or in secluded rural areas within the last 3 months.
In the most recent case, 22-year-old Ashley Real was found dead in a wooded area near Eagle Creek on May 7th after she was last seen at a transit center late March.
Joanna Speaks, was also missing late March with her body being found in a rural area of Clark County on April 8th. She died of blunt force trauma to the head and neck, according to the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office, citing her death as a homicide.
Speaks is the only victim whose cause of death was revealed by authorities.
Her sister Robyn Speaks told KGW8 that she has been concerned with the amount of women who are found dead.
“I don’t want to ever scare people, but reality is there are women dying at awful numbers,” Speaks said. “With each one, we as a family, we’ve talked about it, shared it, looked at the details,” she added. “We’ve talked to the detectives to see if there are any similarities.”
Charity Lynn Perry, 24, and an unidentified woman were found dead on April 24th. The unknown woman was found inside of a tent in Portland and is believed to be Indigenous, and there were no signs of foul play, according to police.
Less that 3 miles away, Kristin Smith, 22, was found dead near Southeast Deardorff Road in Portland on February 19th. She had been missing since December 2022.
Bridget Webster, 31 was found near a rural road in Polk County on April 30th.
“One of the main things that they are going to be looking at is the manner of death and the weapon,” Bryanna Fox, a former FBI special agent said. “If that’s consistent across all of these victims, then that will be a huge point.”
Police are not currently giving information on any possible suspects that could be linked to the murders.
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