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St. Louis police still searching for suspect tied to 3 connected homicides

People online believe it's a serial killer targeting women and sex workers. Police say they don't have enough information to confirm if that's true.

ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Police believe three homicides from Sept. 13th, 16th and 19th are connected but won't say how.

People online are saying it's a serial killer, targeting sex workers and women, but authorities say they don't have enough information to confirm.

"There are just some things that we'd like to give out that we can't because it would jeopardize the investigation," said St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Major Shawn Dace.

While the search for a suspect of three homicides continues, Dace can't say why they believe they're connected.

"Evidence was located indicating that they were related, and at this point that's all we have right now. We still don't have a suspect," Dace said.

Two of the victims were women, 16-year-old Marnay Hayes in St. Louis County and 49-year-old Pamela Abercrombie in the city. A Sept. 17 alert from the police lead people to believe sex workers and women were targets.

"No, I don't know if we've ever said that. We do believe that one of the victims was a sex worker, was involved in the sex working trade," Dace said.

One of the victims was a 24-year-old man named Casey Ross.

"We cannot say that they were targeted towards women in any way no," Dace said.

The only connection Dace confirmed was that the victims were found in vulnerable places.

"They were found in places that weren't adequately lit, that was dark and isolated," Dace said.

City authorities formed a task force with the FBI and the county, meeting weekly to find a resolution. Dace urges the public to be cautious.

"If we just be careful about our surroundings and don't put ourselves in compromising positions I think the likelihood of becoming a victim decreases," Dace said.

When asked what is keeping authorities from calling this a serial killer, Dace replied, "Not enough evidence to say that one person has killed these three people. There's still a lot of uncertainty out there. Still a lot of questions that aren't answered."

Dace encourages anyone who has any information that could help their investigation to call CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS or the homicide department at 314-444-5371.

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