Detroit police say 3 deaths tied to dating services site

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Mon Dec 26, 2011 6:34pm EST

(Reuters) - Three women discovered dead in Detroit over the past week, including two found burned beyond recognition early on Christmas, were linked to a website called Packages that advertises adult escort services, police said on Monday.

In two incidents over the last week, four women -- all African-Americans in their 20s -- have been found dead in the trunks of abandoned vehicles on Detroit's east side.

The latest incident occurred about 1 a.m. on Sunday, when the Detroit Fire Department responded to reports of a car fire.

After putting out the flames, firefighters discovered two dead women in the trunk of the 1997 Buick LaSabre.

Three of the four women, the police said in a statement, were linked with "prearranged adult dating services" advertised on Packages, police said.

In a statement posted on the department's Facebook page, Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee Jr. said "deciding to meet unknown persons via the Internet can be extremely dangerous."

The city's medical examiner has not determined how the four women died. But Godbee said that given "the way the females were found and the attempt to hide their bodies," homicide detectives were treating the cases as suspicious deaths.

(Reporting by James B. Kelleher, editing by Ian Simpson)
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Comments (8)
infinityshock wrote:
why is the racial characteristics of the victims relevant to the article. had the victims been white it would not have been mentioned

Dec 26, 2011 7:56pm EST  --  Report as abuse
normaja wrote:
Given the number of intimate partner rapes/ violence/ homicides that the US Government tells us occur every year (12 million incidents of intimate partner violence and 1 million rapes by intimate partner), it seems that deciding to meet known persons and having a relationship is extremely dangerous. For those who choose to engage in commercial sex, it would make life much safer if we decriminalized consenting adult commercial sex and allowed all sex workers to take steps to make their work safer.
Being a police officer is extremely dangerous too, but we won’t ban the profession to protect women from potential violence, now do we? We go after those who commit the violence (well sometimes we do- although rapists get away with their crimes in just about every state because police are too busy arresting prostitutes and their non violent, non abusive clients- see stats on this: http://www.policeprostitutionandpolitics.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75:rape-cases-in-the-us-2007-2010&catid=35:links&Itemid=54 ) Wish you cops would go after those who actually commit violence against others rather than squander those resources on protecting women for their own good!

Dec 26, 2011 8:11pm EST  --  Report as abuse
MaryWaterton wrote:
@ infinityshock – ALL FACTS are relevant. Good journalists omit nothing. If all facts are included, someone who knows something might read the article and report what they know to police which might lead to an arrest.

In this world there are leftists who see everything through the prism of racism, sexism, and lifestyle issues. It offends their delicate sensibilities to mention the facts. Too bad. I suggest you suck on a pacifier till you feel better.

Dec 26, 2011 9:36pm EST  --  Report as abuse
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