Authorities stated Monday that at least four women found dead in the Portland area since February are believed to be connected to a single person of interest.
Law-enforcement sources say that person is 38-year-old Jesse Lee Calhoun, who entered the custody of the Snake River Correctional Facility in Ontario on unspecified charges on July 6, according to the jail roster.
Concern that there might be an active serial killer in the Pacific Northwest gripped the region shortly after The Oregonian/OregonLive first reported in May that six women, all under the age of 40, were found dead within 100 miles of each other in a three-month period – most in wooded or secluded rural areas. (Authorities later said the death of one of the women originally included in the list wasn’t considered suspicious.)
Calhoun, who went to prison in 2019 on stolen-vehicle and burglary convictions, is suspected of being connected to the deaths of Charity Perry, Ashley Real, Kristin Smith and Bridget Webster, sources say. He was among 41 prisoners whose sentences then-Gov. Kate Brown commuted for fighting wildfires in 2020.
Below is a summary of what we know about the deaths of the four victims allegedly connected to Calhoun. Prosecutors said the state medical examiner has not yet determined an official cause and manner of death in any of the cases.
Charity Lynn Perry, 24, of Vancouver
Multnomah County sheriff’s deputies discovered Perry’s body shortly after 1:30 p.m. on April 24 in a culvert at East Historic Columbia River Highway and Northeast Tumalt Road, near Ainsworth State Park in east Multnomah County. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office at the time said the death was considered “suspicious.”
Perry’s mother, Diana Allen, told The Oregonian/OregonLive in June that police had told her that her daughter’s body had been in the culvert for up to two weeks before deputies found her.
In early March, Perry, who had struggled with homelessness in recent years, was frequently seen near Southwest Washington Street and Fourth Avenue in downtown Portland, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said. That area is home to the Washington Center building, at the time the site of an open-air fentanyl market.
Investigators told Allen that her daughter had been rushed to Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center on March 6 due to an overdose from an unknown drug, Allen said. Perry left the hospital on foot after being treated with Narcan, an overdose-reversing drug.
What happened to her daughter over the following seven weeks remains a mystery, but one thing seems clear, Allen said: Because she suffered from schizophrenia, Perry — who didn’t did not drive and was unfamiliar with east Multnomah County — would not have been able to travel by herself to the remote culvert where her body was found.
“She did not get where she was on her own. Somebody put her there,” Allen told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “One hundred percent there is a murderer out there.”
Ashley Real, 22, of Portland
The Portland woman disappeared March 27. She was last seen leaving a fast-food restaurant in the 12000 block of Southeast Division Street, Portland police said.
On May 7, a man fishing at a pond in the 29000 block of Southeast Judd Road in the Eagle Creek area called 911 after seeing human remains in the heavily wooded area. The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office identified the body May 31 as Real’s.
Kristin Smith, 22, of Gresham
Smith was reported missing Dec. 22. Portland police officers responded Feb. 19 to a report of human remains found in a wooded area near Southeast Deardorff Road and Flavel Street in Southeast Portland’s Pleasant Valley neighborhood. The Portland Police Bureau identified the body as Smith on May 25.
Bridget Leann Ramsey Webster, 31, of Milwaukie
Officials discovered Webster’s body shortly before 2:30 p.m. on April 30 on Harmony Road near Mill Creek in northwest Polk County. She was known to frequent the Portland metro area, particularly Portland, Oregon City and Milwaukie, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the death as suspicious. Little has been released about the circumstances of her death. She was last known to have lived in an apartment in Clackamas County.
Other recent deaths
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s office is investigating the death of Salem resident Clarissa Anne Hammon-Sweet, who was found dead on a vacant property near Wilsonville last Monday. Hammon-Sweet is believed to have died of “homicidal violence,” police said. Sheriff’s office spokesperson Brian McCall said Friday he could not comment on whether Hammon-Sweet’s death is believed to be connected to any of the other four women.
Law-enforcement officials also have not confirmed whether the death of JoAnna Speaks, 38, could be connected to any of the other women’s deaths. Sparks was found dead on April 8 in a barn on an abandoned property near Ridgefield, Washington. Relatives believe Speaks had been dead for days or weeks before someone moved her body to the site east of the Interstate 5 interchange about 20 miles from Portland.
A source close to the investigation told The Oregonian/OregonLive in June that investigators believe Sparks, Perry and Webster all frequented the area of Southeast 82nd Avenue and Clackamas Town Center.
Officials ask anyone who might have information about any of these cases to contact the agencies leading the investigations.
For the Charity Perry case, contact the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 503-988-0560 or Det. Kevin Odil at Kevin.odil@mcso.us.
For Ashley Real: The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 503-723-4949.
For Kristin Smith: Portland Police Bureau Det. Jeffery Pontius at jeffery.pontius@police.portlandoregon.gov.
For Bridget Webster: Polk County Sheriff’s Office Det. David Shorter at shorter.david@co.polk.or.us.
