Chicago police are putting the lid on rumors fueled by social media that a serial killer could be on the loose and targeting Black women on the city’s West Side, CBS Chicago reports.
The police agency on Thursday met with about a dozen community activists to update them about the individual cases of several women, according to the Chicago Tribune.
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“Somehow the community has linked all six and there’s just no evidence of that,” police Supt. Eddie Johnson told the Tribune. “The community calls us with bogus tips. They think they’re helping. Those 1,000 tips are unrelated. We have to chase all those down.”
What police do acknowledge is that two women found dead in recent weeks in the Chicago area could be connected, but police have a person of interest, Johnson told CBS.
Police told CBS that the same man was seen with both victims before they died and is being held on an unrelated warrant in Tennessee.
Online chatter focused on a Chicago man with connections to the two victims, and there were mentions of possible mutilation, according to theTribune. The rumors prompted the man to relocate to Tennessee, the Tribune writes.
The body of Shantieya Smith, 26, was found last week in an abandoned garage, while the body of Sadaria Davis, 15, was found in an abandoned apartment, CBS reported. Davis had been reported missing before the discovery of her body.
In recent days, as many as six women have been reported missing, sparking widespread social media concern. But the four other women have returned home to their families, according to CBS.
“If there was a hint of a pattern of a serial kidnapper, whatever you want to call him out there, trust me, we would be on that in a moment’s notice,” CBS2 quoted Johnson as saying.
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The news organization reported that Chicago detectives are traveling to Tennessee to interview the person of interest, but since Smith’s and Davis’ deaths have not been ruled as homicides, the person is not required to talk to authorities.
The bodies of both women were extremely decomposed at the time they were found, and authorities are performing toxicology tests, according to the Tribune.