The pressure is on for St. Louis police to find the person behind a string of killings in the area. Law enforcement recently announced that they believe there is a connection between three recent homicides. But as officers are unwilling to share much more about the case, concerned community members and true crime internet sleuths have been sharing their own theories.
The Murders Of Marnay Haynes, Pam Abercrombie, And Casey Ross
On the night of September 13, gunshots alerted police to a north St. Louis sidewalk where they found the body of a teenage girl. On the scene, officers found the victim shot to death by an unknown gunman. They identified her as 16-year-old Marnay Haynes.
Following the mysterious tragedy was a second homicide on September 16. This time, officers found a woman severely injured from a gunshot wound. The victim was taken to a hospital where she died from her injuries. They later identified her as 49-year-old Pam Abercrombie.
And on September 19, police found a third victim shot to death in a vacant lot not far from the other crime scenes. This time, it was a man. The victim was 24-year-old Casey Ross.
While police are only connecting these three victims, they seem to be the unlucky few in a surge of assaults, robberies, and shootings in the area. As these violent crimes started closing in on the city, law enforcement announced that these weren’t random homicides. According to police, each of these three victims was selected, lured, and killed by the same person.
The Investigation Into The Murders
According to investigators, each of the victims had some connection to sex work, and the killer likely contacted them for their services. And while investigators are hesitant to officially link them, they are looking into a string of robberies in relation to the case.
In a public safety announcement, police warned citizens, “A suspect by the name of ‘D’ has been meeting women via the MegaPersonals dating app/website for consensual sexual contact and then robbing the victims. ‘D’ is described as a black male, mid-20s, dark complexion with a clean-shaven face, thin to medium build, and with short dreadlocks.”
Police also warned the public to be vigilant, and not hesitate to report strange behavior. As it stands right now, investigators aren’t willing to share many details for fear of jeopardizing the case. But when a reporter asked a lead investigator if he’d call these crimes “serial” killings, he responded, “Until we finalize the investigation, we don’t want to categorize it as that right now.” But the terror-stricken community is banding together online to share safety tips — and exchange theories.
TikToker Notices A Pattern
One of the first people to publicly link the murders was TikTok user LamaraIndigo. Before police announced a link between the three homicides, LamaraIndigo took to TikTok to express her concern for her community. In the video, she drew attention to the recent shootings, explaining, “I think it’s because everybody whose like lived here, been here their whole lives is already desensitized to all the violence — however — this is different because black women are being hunted like game.”
She added that she believes the perpetrator isn’t native to St. Louis. “If you ask me and my intuition, these aren’t normal St. Louisans doing this,” LamaraIndigo declared. She implied the crimes were racially motivated, hinting that she believes the shooter is white. “We already know how they feel about Black women,” she said.
Redditor Proposes Another Theory
But another theory also suggests that the killer is from out of town. In fact, some believe they are from Dayton, Ohio. A member of the r/serialkillers sub-Reddit pointed out the similarities between the recent homicides and six others between two other states.
In 2019, Sandra Reckmann, Bridgette Williams, and Amanda Legare were all found dead in East St. Louis, Illinois. These women had ties to sex work as well. Back in 2019, police acknowledged that the circumstances of the murders were similar, but they never officially connected them. The cases have since gone cold.
The Redditor also mentions a string of killings in Dayton, Ohio back in 2018. There is very little available information on the homicides, but the three victims — Jasmine Wadsworth, Krystal Garcia, and Amanda Fella — all had a history with drugs and sex work. Many dismissed their deaths because of their occupations or addictions, but it’s clear the killings put the whole community on edge. While this theory was met with skepticism, it’s clear someone — or multiple people — are killing vulnerable women in the Midwest.