'We've got to be as thorough as can be'; Cleveland cops look for more victims after 3 women found in bags

Police will continue searching Sunday for more victims after three bodies believed to be female were found in a house in suburban Cleveland. A suspect who is a registered sex offender who has served prison time was arrested in connection with the case. TODAY's Jenna Wolfe reports.

By Gil Aegerter and Andrew Rafferty, NBC News

Investigators in a Cleveland suburb have reason to believe they will find more victims after the recent discovery of three bodies wrapped in garbage bags, officials said Sunday.

?We?ve got to be as thorough as we can be,? East Cleveland Police Chief Ralph Spotts told volunteers gathered to search through vacant houses to look for more bodies.

?There may be one or two more victims,? he said.

Police arrested a suspect on Friday, hours after investigators found a woman?s body in a garage. Two more bodies were discovered Saturday ? one in a backyard and the other in the basement of a vacant house.

All the bodies were wrapped in garbage bags.

On Sunday, volunteers broke into teams of eight to check abandon homes near where the victims were found.

Spotts and East Cleveland Mayor Gary Norton told the volunteers to be on alert for foul smells and to stay together when searching through the dark structures. If any of the volunteers found anything suspicious, they were told to contact authorities immediately.

?It might not look like it?s a body, but it could be. Because the way he had each body was in the fetal position,? Spotts told the group. ?It didn?t look like a person could fit in the bag.?

Norton also told the Associated Press that there were reasons to suspect more bodies would be found, but declined to elaborate on why.

"The person in custody, some of the things he said to investigators made us go back today," the mayor told the AP.

No identities were released, but all three victims were believed to have been killed in the past six to 10 days.?The bodies were found about 100 to 200 yards apart.?

A suspect was arrested after a standoff with police Friday. NBC station WKCY of Cleveland said police identified him as Michael Madison, 35.

The suspect has not yet been charged, Norton told the AP. ?He was a registered sex offender and had served prison time, the mayor added.

Nathenia Crosby, 48, said Madison was a neighbor who concerned her because of his interest in her daughter.

"It's very scary, especially when he used to be talking to my daughter," she told the Associated Press. "But I told him he was too old to be talking to my daughter because she was only 19. When I found out how old he was, I said, `You need to move on, she's too young.' "

East Cleveland, which is home to some 17,000 residents, has many abandoned houses and authorities want to be thorough, the mayor said.?

In police interviews, the man led them to believe he might have been influenced by convicted serial killer Anthony Sowell, Norton told the AP.?

"He said some things that led us to believe that in some way, shape, or form, Sowell might be an influence," the mayor said.

A 2009 serial killing shocked neighboring Cleveland. Police found the bodies of 11 women, ages 24 to 52, at Sowell's home. He was convicted and sentenced to death and remains in prison.

In court papers, prosecutors described Sowell as, "The worst offender in the history of Cuyahoga County and arguably the State of Ohio."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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