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Police Release Phone Call Tip about 'Grim Sleeper' Serial Killer
Photo by lewish1990 via Flickr
Admittedly a long shot by police, the LAPD today released the audio of an anonymous phone call tip about the fourth murder by the serial killer dubbed the "Grim Sleeper." Over a span of more than 20 years, the mysterious killer--connected by DNA--has taken the lives of at least 11 victims and injured one. The police are not sure if the phone call described below was purposefully misleading or not, but it's definitely an interesting look into what happend back in '87. From the LAPD:
In one of the murders which occurred on Saturday, January 10, 1987, at 12:19 a.m., an anonymous male caller notified LAPD Communication Division that 30 minutes prior to his call he witnessed a male suspect removing a body from a blue and white van, California license plate number of “1PZP746”, and dumping it in the alley to the rear of 1346 East 56th Street. The body, later identified as Barbara Ware, was then covered with trash and a gas tank placed on top. The caller had described the Barbara Ware crime scene exactly how responding uniformed officers and detectives documented the scene.
Detectives located the van approximately 4.5 miles from the body, at 6075 South Normandie Avenue. The location and registered owner of the van was the “Cosmopolitan Church”, which is no longer in service. The hood of the van was still warm to the touch and people inside the church said that they had used the van earlier in the evening. Several church members were interviewed and the van was processed for evidence for some connection to the crime and/or Barbara Ware. No evidence was ever determined.
"There has got to be something to this. There is just too much information here for there not to be something of value for us," said Det. Dennis Kilcoyne told the Times. "We're hoping somebody out there will be able to help us make the connection between this body, the van and the caller."
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