Man arrested in Indiana killing leads police to three more bodies

[October 20, 2014]  By Kevin Murphy
 
 (Reuters) - A man arrested in connection with the strangulation death of a woman at an Indiana motel directed police to locations where the bodies of three other women were found, authorities said on Sunday.

Police on Saturday arrested the 43-year-old man in Gary, Indiana, as a person of interest after finding a woman on Friday night dead in a room at a Motel 6 in nearby Hammond, said Lt. Richard Hoyda of the Hammond Police Department in an emailed statement. They did not identify the man.

The woman, Afrika Hardy, 19, was strangled to death, according to a news release by the Lake County coroner's office.

Detectives obtained a warrant to search a home and vehicle in Gary near the man's home, leading to his arrest, Hoyda said.

While being interrogated, the man made a confession and then told detectives about three locations where the bodies of other women were found, Hoyda said. He did not provide further details about the nature of the man's confession.

One of the three dead women was Anith Jones, 35, according the Lake County coroner's office. The means of her death and the identities and means of death of the other women were not disclosed by the coroner's office as its investigation continued.

The person of interest is in a Hammond jail and his name is being withheld, pending filing of criminal charges, Hoyda said.

(Reporting by Kevin Murphy in Kansas City; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)

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