A town in Ohio is concerned there's a serial killer on the loose

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published 25 June 2015

Residents in Chillicothe, Ohio, are worried that a serial killer is lurking in their town, following the disappearance of six women in the past year.

Two of those women are still missing, while four have been found dead. Officials say they are connected through a common history of drug use, possible prostitution, and mutual friends, The Chillicothe Gazette reports. One of the women was found with three gunshots to the head, and another died from an "undetermined circumstance." The coroner ruled that one woman, whose car was found abandoned with a drained battery and the doors open, committed suicide by drowning, but her family said she was not despondent and was excited to be pregnant.

The community is holding marches and vigils, and raising money to pay for the burial of one of the women. The FBI has been called in to help crack the cases, but despite the fact there is a dedicated tip line, not enough clues are coming in to aid police. "We've checked land, air, and water for any signs of the [the women]," Chillicothe Police Chief Keith Washburn said. "But the problem is you're trying to find a needle in a haystack unless you have the information. The information we have is running dry on some of these cases."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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