WASHINGTON (WUSA9) — The investigation into bones found in a Southeast D.C. apartment complex is now considered a homicide investigation.
The remains of the three adult women were found “co-mingled” in a “shallow grave” in the crawlspace of 113 Wayne Place SE while a man was doing plumbing work last week.
Police said two of the victims have gunshot wounds. The third victim suffered fractures.
Because this is a now-active homicide investigation, police and the medical examiner’s office won’t say where the injuries were inflicted, but they did say the gunshot wounds would have cause the deaths of the two victims.
The identities of the women remain unknown. Investigators don’t know their age range, body type or ancestry, but they are prepping samples to give to the FBI, “so the profiles can be compared properly.”
Police didn’t say whether that would include entering the DNA information into online databases like Ancestry.com or 23andMe.com—similar to what investigators did to track down the suspected Golden State Killer.
The process will likely take several months, which is typical, Newsham said.
At this point, investigators don’t know how long the women were buried there, but they have been there at least one year, said Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr. with the D.C. Medical Examiner’s Office.
In the meantime, D.C. police detectives will be investigating whether the three homicides are related and checking missing persons reports to possibly narrow down who the victims could be.
Chief Newsham encouraged anyone who might have information to come forward.
“That piece of information that they bring forward could be critical to us closing this case,” Newsham said, adding that if these homicides end up being related, the reward money would be $25,000 per victim—or $75,000 total.
Chief Newsham also asked people in the area of Wayne Place to be patient while investigators do their work. They anticipate being in the area for a significant amount of time, making sure they find all evidence possible to solve the case.
