Person Of Interest In Custody As Bodies Of Three Women Found In Gary, One In Hammond
(CBS) -- The bodies of three females were found in three separate locations overnight in Gary which could be related to a body found Friday night in Hammond, police say
According to Hammond Police, a woman was found unresponsive in a hotel in the 3800 block of 179th Street in Hammond Friday night. Detectives investigating the case followed a lead and took a person of interest into custody in Gary.
That woman has been identified as Afrika Hardy, 19. According to the Lake County Coroner, the manner of death was strangulation and her death was ruled a homicide.
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Information from the person of interest lead police to three separate locations in Gary where bodies of females were discovered. Authorities say he confessed to murdering them.
First, the coroner was called to the 400 block of East 43rd Avenue. There they found the body of a black female wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans. The coroner says she was wearing three rings on her fingers and a belly ring. She has been identified as Anith Jones, 35, of Merrollville, Ind. Jones had been reported missing since Oct. 8.
Then in the 1800 block of East 19th Avenue, they found the body of a female. She was wearing a green hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.
Then - in the 2200 hundred block of Massachusetts Street, they found the body of another female - dressed in blue jeans and white Nike shoes.
Justin Jones lives next door to where the body was found in the 1800 block of East 19th Avenue.
"I came home probably 1:30 in the morning and the police were all over the block," Jones said.
Jones says workers recently turned off utilities next door, and marked the house for demolition and the body must have been dumped since then.
"Somebody had to come in there like last week or something because NIPSCO and the water company was there turning the off the power and stuff, so it wasn't no body in there," Jones said.
The motive for all the killings is still under investigation. No charges have been filed yet.
