Global Courant
Whether or not Portland and the surrounding communities have a serial killer, the sheer number of missing persons in the area should be cause for concern, according to an experienced cold case investigator.
Police downplayed concerns over a serial killer in a statement last week after the bodies of six women were discovered in and around the city in five months.
About half of the 140 people missing so far this year in Oregon’s Multnomah County, including the city of Portland, are women and girls, according to the state’s online database. There are currently 401 active missing persons cases statewide.
However, Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and now an adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the sheer numbers should be considered a public safety issue even if foul play is not suspected.
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The remains of Joanna Speaks, Charity Perry, Kristin Smith, Bridget Webster, Ashley Real and a sixth, unidentified woman have all been found within a 100-mile radius of Portland in the past five months. (Fox News Digital | Google Maps)
The number of open cases of missing women and girls in the first half of this year is already well above 46 by the end of 2022, according to the state count. The Portland Police Department, which maintains a separate record and is responsible for only a portion of the 466-square-mile Multnomah County, said they investigated a total of 489 missing persons reports last year.
Some of the disappearances may be related to Portland’s liberal policies on homelessness and open-air drug markets, Giacalone said.
“You can’t have these tent cities and open-air drug markets that just spawn this kind of behavior,” he told Fox News Digital. “It doesn’t have to be nefarious, it doesn’t have to be murder.”
Kristin Smith, left, and Ashley Real were found dead in February and May, respectively. Portland police are investigating both cases, but say they have “no reason to believe” they are related. (Portland Police Station)
He said he suspects more bodies will be found, likely due to drug overdoses, possibly hidden after the fact by panicked fellow users who don’t want to attract attention.
“If you think these are the only six bodies in that area, I think you are wrong,” he said. “There needs to be a full investigation, including cadaver dogs and everything else.”
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Police found the remains of Kristin Smith, 22, on February 19, Joanna Speaks, 32, on April 8, Charity Perry, 24, an unknown woman on April 24, Bridget Webster, 31, on April 30, and Ashley Real, 22 , on May 7.
Of the bodies found, only one has so far been publicly declared a murder by investigators – the death of Speaks, who was found dead of blunt head and neck injuries behind an abandoned barn 22 miles north of Portland.
Deputies in Clark County, Washington, say they are investigating Joanna Speaks’ death as a homicide after her remains were found in an abandoned barn in Ridgefield, Washington. (Clark County Sheriff’s Office)
And at least one case has been linked to homeless camps and open-air drug markets.
Perry, who was found dead by police in a culvert in Ainsworth State Park, 35 miles east of town, had a history of substance abuse and mental health problems, her mother, Diana Allen, told Fox News Digital.
Perry’s mother thought she had been living in a tent in Vancouver, a neighboring city just north, but later learned that her daughter had been last seen at an open-air fentanyl market in Portland, where she had overdosed.
Charity Perry of Vancouver, Washington, was reported to have disappeared sometime in April, and her remains were found April 24 in a culvert near a park about 35 miles east of Portland, Oregon. (Diana Allen)
Perry was taken to the hospital and revived with a dose of Narcan, her mother told Fox News Digital.
But she was released without any verification of her address, no one looked into her background, and the hospital did not contact her emergency contact – her mother – about the incident.
“I had tried to find her, but every time I went to the tent, she would stay outside. She wouldn’t be there,” Allen told Fox News Digital. “At first I didn’t know she had gone to Portland until the detective informed me. They can’t give me a date of death, but they’re pretty sure it was April.’
Charity Perry counts money while sitting on a porch in an undated family photo. The homeless woman from Vancouver, Washington, went missing in April and police later found her remains in a culvert in a park about 35 miles east of Portland, Oregon. (Diana Allen)
Allen said she was unable to discuss details of the case due to the ongoing investigation, but said she believes the evidence shows her daughter was taken to the park site in an attempt to hide her remains.
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“It seems like a lot of work for a drug overdose,” she said. “So I’m stuck in this goddamn ride I call the ring of fire. One side is trying to get to anything that more innocent reasoning can have. The other is sucking you down a rabbit hole that I fear I’ll never get out of.”
Bridget Webster of Milwaukie, Oregon, was found dead in Polk County on April 30. (Polk County Sheriff’s Office)
Despite her problems, Perry was very friendly and eager to meet new people, her mother said.
Investigators are investigating a possible link between the deaths of Speaks, the only confirmed murder, Perry and Webster, according to a report in The Oregonian. All three died in the space of three weeks.
Giacalone said investigators are likely looking for patterns even if they haven’t found evidence of a possible serial killer — but it’s also early to rule one out.
“If you look at the history of serial killers, they always prey on the most vulnerable and especially people who are drug users, homeless or prostitutes, because they are transient,” he said. “People don’t really look for them after a certain amount of time, and the groups those individuals interact with, whether it’s the drug scene or the prostitution scene, don’t really take kindly to the police.”
A search of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System database revealed that at least four other Jane Does were found in the region in 2022: a woman in Lowell, Oregon, in May; another in Salem, Oregon, in November; and two more women in Woodland, Washington, in March and April. One of them had been hit by a train. Two were found on the side of rural roads and the fourth was found floating in the Columbia River.
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“If a serial killer was involved, he or she has the perfect cover,” Giacalone said. “We’ve got people from different countries, different parts of the state, the open-air drug scene, maybe prostitution, and all those other things, and you’ve got the city with the ‘abolish the police’ movement. Talk about a series. the killer’s sweet spot.”
Portland, like a number of West Coast cities, has been battling a homelessness crisis in recent years.
The city has set up an illegal campground reporting system at pdxreporter.org/. Residents can also call 311.
Michael Ruiz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to michael.ruiz@fox.com and on Twitter: @mikerreports
