CLEVELAND (AP) _ Police say there's only one way for the families of
missing women to know for sure if their loved ones are among the
victims found in suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell's house: Give
DNA samples. But relatives with checkered pasts in the hardscrabble
neighborhood seem reluctant to come forward.
Area pastors are urging families to provide DNA samples that could
help the coroner's office identify the remains of eight black women,
saying that nearly two dozen others are still missing in southeast
Cleveland. The coroner's office, meanwhile, tried to calm concerns by
promising the samples would not be shared with police.
"The only way we are going to get closure is to find out who these
victims are,'' said City Councilman Zach Reed.
Police and a cadaver dog re-entered the house Thursday where Sowell
apparently lived among the reeking, rotting corpses of 10 women and
the paper-wrapped skull of another that authorities found in a
bucket. The ex-Marine, who served 15 years in prison for attempted
rape, is being held without bail on five aggravated murder charges.
In response to messages asking how the investigation would proceed
on Friday, a police spokesman e-mailed a brief note stating only that
a news release would be issued late in the morning.
So far only three victims have been identified: Tonia Carmichael,
52, of Warrensville Heights; Telacia Fortson, 31, of Cleveland; and
Tishana Culver, 31, also of Cleveland.
If people are hesitant to reach out directly to police or the
coroner's office, Reed said they should contact him or a pastor.
Stanley Miller, executive director of the NAACP in Cleveland, said
people concerned about turning over their DNA to authorities might be
reassured by the coroner's offer to use the DNA only for the purpose
of identifying victims.
