The Portland Police Bureau says there’s no connection between the cases of the six women who were found dead within 100 miles of each other — all but one in the Portland area — over the past three months.
The cases of the women, all under the age of 40, are being investigated by the Portland Police Bureau and sheriff’s offices in Multnomah, Polk, Clark and Clackamas counties.
The police bureau said rumors have been flying on social media, stoking anxiety in the community about how the cases may be related.
“We want to provide reassurance that the speculation is not supported by the facts available at this point,” police said in a press release on Sunday. “While any premature death is concerning… PPB [the Portland Police Bureau] has no reason to believe these 6 cases are connected.”
Police said there was no immediate need for concern.
“If we learn of an articulable danger, we will notify the public about it,” police said.
Authorities found the bodies of the six women between February 19 and May 7, 2023 — most in wooded or secluded rural areas. One body, which police identified as Kristin Smith, 22, was found in a wooded area in Southeast Portland’s Pleasant Valley neighborhood. Another, identified as that of JoAnna Speaks, 32, was found inside a barn at an abandoned property in Ridgefield, Washington, about 22 miles north of Portland — though authorities said it had been moved to that location. A third, identified as Charity Lynn Perry, 24, was found in a culvert near Ainsworth State Park in east Multnomah County.
Officials found another dead woman in a tent near Interstate 205 and Southeast Flavel Street in Southeast Portland’s Lents neighborhood – less than three miles from where Smith’s body was found — though they have not yet identified her remains. They also found the body of Bridget Leann Ramsey Webster, 31, in northwest Polk County and that of Ashley Real, 22, in the Eagle Creek area in a heavily wooded area.
One of the cases is being investigated as a homicide, four as suspicious deaths and in one case police say no foul play is involved.
— Oregonian reporter Catalina Gaitán contributed to this report.
