Three Black Female Bodies Found in Plastic Bags in E. Cleveland, Ohio

By Karen Smith Jul 20, 2013 10:08 EDT

Police say three bodies have been found in plastic bags in East Cleveland, identifications have not been made, they were sent to the coroner's office on Saturday.

On Friday, a woman's body, wrapped in plastic, was found in a garage at Shaw and Hayden avenues.

Police Commander Mike Cardilli said two other bodies were found Saturday , one in a backyard and the other in the basement of a vacant house. They had also been wrapped in plastic, about 100 to 200 yards apart.

Cardilli said a 35-year-old male suspect was arrested after a standoff with police Friday, and he is a suspect in all three deaths. Police did not immediately release the suspect's name.

Law enforcement and FBI stand at the back of a boarded-up home where bodies were found earlier in the day Saturday in East Cleveland.(Photo:Joshua Gunter, The Plain Dealer)

East Cleveland Mayor Gary Norton said each woman was black. They were wrapped in four or five plastic bags. He said the suspect is a registered sex offender and has served time in prison in the past.

In police interviews, the man led them to believe he might have been influenced by convicted serial killer Anthony Sowell, Norton said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Sowell was found guilty in 2011 of killing 11 women and hiding their remains around his Cleveland home. He is in prison on a death sentence.

All three people are believed to have been killed in the last six to 10 days.

Norton said officials will continue their search Sunday.

The news of three women’s bodies discovered in Cleveland comes just two months after Ariel Castro, who is accused of kidnapping Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight for a decade, was arrested on May 6.

Castro has recently appeared in court and pleads not guilty to 977 Counts related to the kidnapping and rape.

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