LAPD Could Link 8 More Victims to Grim Sleeper Killer

The Los Angeles Police Department are prepping a news conference for later this afternoon during which they intend to provide details and images of eight more women would could be linked to the Grim Sleeper killer, Lonnie Franklin, Jr.

According to a news advisory sent out by the LAPD, at 4 p.m. today LAPD "[d]etectives will be giving an update to the ongoing investigation and will provide information related to the focus of the investigation against Franklin that includes six missing females, their names, photographs and last known locations, four of which have not been previously released."

Of those eight women, half have been considered "possible victims for some time," according to LA Now, while "the other four are additions to the investigation." Detectives are linking the possible victims to Franklin because of similarities to the cases of his known victims' slayings, as well as "strong circumstantial evidence recovered at Franklin’s residence." For those women about whom missing persons cases were filed, the dates they were last seen range from 1982 to 2006.

The LAPD intend to show images of the eight women today. Images have been a powerful tool in the ongoing Franklin case, as authorities recovered a vast collection of photographs while searching Franklin's home, and turned to the public to help identify several of the women depicted via a website that hosted edited scans of the images. Some of those women remain unidentified, and the LAPD are expected to display the photos of those 56 women today.