The deaths of four women whose bodies were discovered in wooded areas in north-west Oregon are linked, authorities said on Monday while announcing that police have identified “at least one person of interest”.
Fears of a serial killer in the Pacific north-west had grown since last month when the Oregonian reported that six women, all under 40 and most with connections to the Portland area, were found dead in secluded areas in a 100-mile range over three months.
Police initially said the cases did not appear to be connected, but this week the district attorney’s office dropped a bombshell and said that four of the deaths were connected, though officials did not use the words “serial killer” while announcing the news.
“Investigators and prosecutors from multiple law enforcement agencies have been working collaboratively … and they have determined that there are links between four cases: Kristin Smith, Charity Perry, Bridget Webster and Ashley Real,” the prosecutor’s office said.
“Investigators have interviewed multiple people in connection with these cases and have identified at least one person of interest that is linked to all four,” thedistrict attorney’s office added.
The state medical examiner has not determined the cause or manner of death for any of the women, prosecutors said in a statement.
The Multnomah county DA’s office in Portland said no charges have been filed against anyone, but that the community was not currently in any danger. The Oregonian reported that law enforcement sources identified the person of interest as Jesse Lee Calhoun, a 38-year-old who has been in custody on “unspecified charges” since 6 July. Calhoun was previously in prison for stolen-vehicle and burglary convictions, the newspaper reported.
The women’s bodies were found in Portland and rural areas of Oregon starting on 19 February, with the latest one found on 7 May. One body was found about 45 miles (72 km) south-west of Portland, near a creek in Polk county.
The first body discovered was that of Smith, 22, found in a wooded area in a suburb south-east of Portland. Smith’s disappearance was reported to police in suburban Gresham on 22 December 2022.
“It’s quite like a piece of you is missing, that’s really the only way you can describe it,” Hailey Smith, Kristin’s sister, told KPTV, a Portland television station, as family members searched for the then missing woman.
Family members hung up flyers and looked for Smith near homeless shelters and other sites in downtown Portland. A private “Justice for Kristin Smith” Facebook page, created more than four months ago, has over 600 members.
Perry was 24 when she died. Her body was found on 24 April near a state park alongside the Columbia River, east of Portland. Perry’s mother told the Oregonian that her daughter, who had schizophrenia, did not drive and did not know the area in which her body was found.
“She did not get where she was on her own. Somebody put her there,” she told the newspaper. “One hundred per cent there is a murderer out there.”
Webster’s body was found on 30 April near Mill Creek in rural north-west Polk county. She was 31.
Real, 22, was last seen at a fast-food restaurant near Portland on 27 March, police said. She was reported missing on 4 April. Her body was found on 7 May in a forest south-east of Portland.
