GARY, Ind. (AP) – Investigators in two states are reviewing unsolved murders and missing person reports after the arrest of an Indiana man who police say confessed to killing seven women and hinted at more victims over a 20-year span.
But determining whether others have fallen prey to Darren Vann, 43, a former Marine convicted of sexual assault in Texas in 2009, could take years, a former high-ranking agent at the FBI’s Chicago office said. That some of his alleged victims may have been prostitutes or had fallen through society’s cracks could also complicate the investigation.
“It does make it difficult. It indicates he preyed on individuals that might be less likely to be reported missing,” said Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson.
Vann was charged Monday in the strangulation death of 19-year-old Afrikka Hardy, whose body was found Friday in a bathtub at a Motel 6 in Hammond, 20 miles southeast of Chicago. He also was charged with murder in commission of a robbery and robbery causing great bodily injury.
A probable cause affidavit said police identified Vann from surveillance video outside the motel.