Los Angeles police detectives have nearly quadrupled the amount of reviewable cases with potential ties to the Grim Sleeper serial killer case.
Detectives are now looking at 230 missing persons cases and unsolved killings going back to May 1976, when Grim Sleeper suspect Lonnie David Franklin Jr., 57, left the Army, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The previous number of reviewable cases stood at 60, and was confined to a period between the early 1980s, when the first case-connected killing occurred, and July 2010, when Franklin was arrested.
Officials told the Times they are unsure how many of the new cases may actually be linked and said it would be a slow process, but it could provide closure to some families.
The expansion comes as the LAPD is planning to re-release images of 51 women found in July 2010 among about 1,000 photographs during a search of Franklin’s South Los Angeles home.
Detectives have used the trove of images found at Franklin’s home to enlist the public’s help.
Authorities released 180 photographs in December 2010, and about 20 families contacted detectives to let them know their loved ones featured in the images were OK or had died of natural causes.
In April 2011, eight women were added to the list of possible victims.
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Franklin was arrested after detectives obtained a DNA sample from his son, who was arrested the year before. He pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, the crimes spanning from 1985 to 2007.
Most of the victims, 10 women ages 15 to 35, were found in alleys near Franklin’s South LA home. All were black and most were prostitutes or drug addicts who were sexually assaulted.
The moniker Grim Sleeper was inspired by the 13-year gap between slayings. After 1988, no known homicides were connected to the case until 2002 and again in 2007.
Police have questioned whether the slayings actually stopped.
Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty if Franklin is convicted, according to Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman.
