Title: Grand Rapids Michigan unsolved serial murders

Dates: 1994 - 1996

Overview: The killer of eleven women remains at large..

Status: Cold Case.

Grand Rapids Michigan unsolved serial murders

Authorities in Kent County, Michigan hesitate to blame a serial killer for the murders of 11 women, eight of them known prostitutes, since early 1994, but Lt. Carol Price, spokesperson for a 15 member task force assigned to solve the case, told reporters: were not denying its a possibility. But we dont concentrate on that theory to the exclusion of others. Thus far, sadly, no theory has brought police any closer to a solution in the case that has Grand Rapids residents glancing over their shoulders in grim apprehension.

The first known victim, 25 year old prostitute Lesa Otberg, was abducted from Grand Rapids on March 28, 1994, her corpse discarded in Muskegon, 40 miles to the northwest. Seven months later, on November 6, a second body was found in neighboring Ottawa County, to the west. That victim remains unidentified, listed on the record as a Jane Doe, age 35 to 50 years old. Authorities believe she was murdered in the spring or early summer of 1994. Pamela Verile, a 33 year old prostitute and drug addict, was next, found beaten to death on June 1, 1995, in a thicket near Walker, on the western outskirts of Grand Rapids. Thirty seven year old Gale Cook, a convicted drug user and fugitive from a prison work release program, was found strangled in Grand Rapids Township on October 4, 1995. Local prostitute Dawn Shaver, 25 years old, was beaten and strangled before she was dumped in a creek north of town, her body recovered on November 21. No cause of death was determined for Michelle Becker, a 36 year old convicted streetwalker found dead in downtown Grand Rapids on August 9, 1996. The same was true for 27 year old Sonyia Compos, a prostitute found in Walker on September 21, and for the Jane Doe victim found in Plainfield Township 10 days later. Thirty year old Sharon Hammack, another addict prostitute, was killed on October 3, 1996, discarded on the fringes of suburban Kentwood.

A task force was organized to investigate the murders on October 10, 1996. Three days later, an anonymous telephone call led police to a 10th victim, another Jane Doe, 40 to 55 years old, in a field behind a south Grand Rapids factory. The 11th victim, 29 year old Victoria Moore, was found two weeks later, on October 27, her decomposing body dumped beside a country road, 20 miles north of Grand Rapids. By that time, a pattern of sorts had emerged, police acknowledging that Moore and at least four other victims had spent time at Rose Haven Ministry, a local sanctuary for prostitutes. Rose Havens director, Brenda Dalecke, told reporters, id be really surprised if it wasnt a serial killer. Its too much of a coincidence.

The authorities, for their part, were less certain. Were not ready to use the big S work yet. So far, we havent found the common thread that links all these victims together.

Nothing has changed, apparently, with the passage of time. Police are no closer to an arrest in Grand Rapids today than they were in 1996. The killer of at least 11 women remains at large.

Who says you cant get away with murder?

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