Police in Ohio were working today to identify three of six bodies discovered at the home of a convicted rapist.
Anthony Sowell fled before police in Cleveland arrived to arrest him on new charges, but was captured after being spotted in the city’s east side, a police spokesman said last night.
Sowell initially denied he was the man authorities were looking for but admitted his identity as officers began fingerprinting him, the spokesman added.
Officers initially identified three decomposing bodies at Sowell’s home. Powell Caesar, a spokesman for the Cuyahoga County coroner’s office, said additional remains were found and confirmed as three more bodies.
Autopsies were performed on all six bodies but no cause of death or names were announced. Two autopsies were done on Friday.
The first two bodies were found on Thursday night when police went to Sowell’s home to arrest him for assault and rape. Police said Sowell had spent 15 years in prison for a 1989 rape.
Two of the bodies were identified as black women. No race or sex was determined for the others.
Police are checking crime reports to find matches for similarities to the 1989 rape or the most recent allegation against Sowell.
Detectives with a search warrant found two bodies on Thursday on the third floor of a semi-detached house and began checking a fresh grave dug in the basement. The bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition, suggesting they had been in the home for a long time.
Police were checking missing-person reports back to June 2005, when Sowell was released from prison.
As a convicted sex offender, Sowell was required to report regularly to the sheriff’s office, which said he had complied.
AP