Task Force Hunts Possible Serial Killer of 11 Women

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. —  The phone calls, sometimes collect, are more frequent these days at Rose Haven Ministry, a harbor for women seeking to kick a life of prostitution.

Authorities are puzzled by the slayings of 11 women in the region, including nine with links to the sex trade. The callers don’t want to join the list.

“When this started, the reaction we heard was rather casual, like the women who had been killed were too careless,” Rose Haven director Brenda Dalecke said. “But then more and more bodies were found. Someone has a hook out there that is drawing just about anyone in.”

A 14-member task force of officers from around the region is meeting daily in the basement of the Grand Rapids Police Department to try to crack the case.

The first victim, Lesa Otberg, 25, of Grand Rapids, was discovered in March 1994 in nearby Muskegon. Eight months later, another body, still unidentified, was found in neighboring Ottawa County.

The others have been in the Grand Rapids area, including four in October. The latest was Victoria Moore, 29, whose decomposed body was spotted by a squirrel hunter two weeks ago 20 miles north of the city.

“I’d be really surprised if it wasn’t a serial killer,” Dalecke said. “It’s too much to be a coincidence.”

Police aren’t as certain.

“We’re not denying that it’s a possibility,” said Lt. Carol Price, a task force spokeswoman. “But we don’t concentrate on that theory to the exclusion of others.”

Victim No. 6, Michelle Becker, 36, turned to prostitution to feed a crack cocaine habit, her mother said. She was married at 19 but had a rocky relationship with her husband, who died of a heart attack.

“She wrote about trying to give up drugs, trying to get God in her life,” Lucy Chatman said of her daughter. “But the devil had a hold on her. I miss her.”

The sin strip in Grand Rapids, a city of 191,000 in west-central Michigan, is Division Avenue, a gritty north-south artery. The area of prostitution is just blocks from downtown landmarks: a new arena, the Gerald R. Ford Museum, the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.

Since 1991, Rose Haven Ministry has been a sanctuary for prostitutes. It offers a residential program as well as a drop-in program for women who want to change their lives.

Last year, 286 women took the first step by filling out a needs form, Dalecke said. Not all, however, returned.

At least five of the 11 victims had contacts with Rose Haven.

“I’m sick to my stomach, and it won’t go away,” Dalecke said.