A search for bodies started Friday after police responded to a report of a strong odor emanating from an East Cleveland, Ohio suburban home. Police discovered the dead body of a woman wrapped in plastic and found the bodies of three more African-American women in nearby abandoned homes, their search ending Sunday.
Michael Madison, a 35-year-old registered sex offender who lives in his mother’s home in the same neighborhood the bodies were found, is a prime suspect in the case and was arrested Friday. Police plan to formally charge him Monday.
The victims have not yet been identified, but ABC News reports that they were murdered in the last 6-10 days and the Cuyahoga Medical Examiners Office has been working to identify the bodies and the exact causes of death as quickly as possible.
According to USA Today Madison admitted to police that he was influenced by Anthony Sowell, a serial killer who was convicted in 2011 for murdering 11 women and hiding their remains in his home in East Cleveland. Sowell is now awaiting execution.