After months of investigating, authorities in northwestern Oregon now suspect the deaths of four young women are most likely connected, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office announced.
The remains of the victims— identified as Kristin Smith, 22; Charity Perry, 24; Bridget Webster, 31; and Ashely Real, 22 — were all uncovered in and around Portland, Ore., between February and May, police said. The cause and manner of their deaths has yet to be determined by the state’s medical examiner, the district attorney’s office said in a news release on Monday.
While no arrests have been made, police have interviewed at least one “person of interest” linked to the deaths of all four women. The person was not identified and and authorities have declined to provide additional information about what connects the cases, citing ongoing death investigations.
“Based on the available information to investigators, there is not believed to be any active danger to the community at this time,” the DA’s statement said.
On February 19, authorities discovered Smith’s body in a wooded area in southeast Portland. She’d been reported missing by family months earlier in December.
Perry was found dead along a highway just northeast of Portland on April 24. The District Attorney’s Office called her death suspicious at the time, but did not provide additional details. Her mother Diana Allen told KATU that her daughter had struggled with mental health issues and homelessness in recent years.
Just six days later, authorities discovered Webster’s body on a rural road in nearby Polk County. And on May 7, a fisherman spotted what appeared to be human remains in a wooded area in another nearby county, Clackamas. They were identified as belonging to Real, who was last seen alive on March 27.
The announcement comes weeks after authorities in Portland had declared they had no reason to believe the deaths of six women in the region — including some of the deaths that have now been linked — were connected.
