DETROIT _ In an effort to quell public fears stemming from a spike in violent crime in Detroit and police warnings of a serial killer targeting women, city officials announced Friday a massive, door-to-door dragnet for information and other victims.
"We are not going to let up," Detroit Police Chief James Craig said, flanked by other officers, city officials and volunteers at a news conference at police headquarters. "We are going to find this violent, predatory criminal."
The serial killer, Craig has said, appears to be luring women into vacant buildings, raping and then killing them. So far, three women's bodies have been found, only two of which have been identified.
Since Wednesday, news of a serial killer has generated national headlines, and city officials, as well as Detroit residents, do not want the bad news to revive the city's decadeslong reputation for violent crime.
There were 261 homicides last year, down from 267 in 2017.
Moreover, Michigan history is dotted with serial killers who have targeted prostitutes. The men, crime experts say, often preyed on them because they tended not to draw as much publicity _ or public sympathy.
Police are now seeking the public's help to identify the third woman, who was found Wednesday morning on Mack Avenue near Mount Elliott and prompted the police to warn residents _ especially women _ to be on alert.
The third victim was described as black, about 5 feet tall and about 100 pounds with a short-crop Afro hairstyle.
Craig said he hopes there are no other victims, but added that there very well could be.
At the news conference, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan also promised to step up efforts to board up and tear down thousands of vacant homes and sought public support for his plan to seek a $200 million bond to continue his pledge to eliminate blight.
"The violence we've been experiencing in the City of Detroit has been heartbreaking," he said. "We've seen attacks on women, we've seen attacks on the LGBT community and we've seen random drive-by shootings."
Last month, he said, a teen was even shot and killed over Cartier eyewear.
Duggan added that to turn back that recent increase in violence, it will take "our entire city, police and the community together to say, once and for all: 'This violence is just not acceptable.' "
Duggan promised that immediately following the media event, 40 neighborhood police officers would be deployed in pairs across the east side to search every abandoned house and "make certain we do not have any more victims."
In addition, he said, eight teams working overtime _ six days a week _ would board up thousands of homes.
"Some of you might remember, I promised it by the end of this year every house in the city would be demolished, occupied or boarded," he said. "Our board-up teams have boarded up 19,000 houses in the city, we have 2,000 to go."
Duggan _ who called blighted homes a "plague on this city for far too long" _ defended his administration's program to demolish abandoned homes, which has been under scrutiny by a widening federal criminal probe.
In addition to officials, a resident _ Martin Jones, of the Detroit 300 community action group _ took to the microphone to explain that volunteer groups also have intensified crime-prevention efforts because they "should not have to live in fear."
"We've been disgusted, especially now, by the number of murders and the level of violence that is taking place," he said. "The information that could help us solve the majority of crimes is within our community. It's a matter of getting people to speak up."
The two other victims in the serial killing investigation were identified as Nancy Harrison, 52, and Travesene Ellis, 53. One victim was white, the other black, an indication, the chief said, that the killer does not appear to be targeting women by race.
Harrison's body was found on the 2000 block of Coventry; Ellis' was found on the 13000 block of Linnhurst.
Her death, police said, was initially thought to be a drug overdose. However, the medical examiner has determined her death was a homicide and she died from blunt force trauma.
Determinations have yet to be made on how the two other women died.
Social media rumors had been developing since mid-May that there was a serial killer in downtown Detroit, but, at the time, the police department repudiated them, saying, "there is false information circulating" and "this is not true."
Craig has reiterated the department's denial, saying that the three deaths he identified are different and urge anyone with information to call 1-800-SPEAK-UP so it can be used to help catch the killer.
"We all have to be part of the solution," City Councilman Scott Benson added at the news conference. "If you hear something, if you see something, call 911. It's up to all of us."
