PORTLAND, Ore. — Law enforcement agencies have discovered links between four women found dead in and around Portland over the past six months and a person of interest has been identified, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office reported Monday. The four women are Kristin Smith, Charity Perry, Bridget Webster and Ashley Real.
The DA's office said no charges have been filed against anyone in connection to the four deaths, but at least one person has been identified as a person of interest who is linked to all four of the dead women. The district attorney's office has not released that person's name or said whether they are in custody.
Multiple news agencies, including Willamette Week and later The Oregonian, reported the identity of the person of interest as Jesse Lee Calhoun. He's a current inmate at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario, where he's facing charges not related to the death investigations of the four women. Calhoun, 38, has not been charged in relation to the four deaths.
Calhoun, who has a lengthy criminal history, was released from prison a year early, on July 22, 2021, when then-Oregon Gov. Kate Brown issued a "conditional commutation" for Calhoun and 41 other inmates, eliminating the final 12 months of their sentences after they helped fight the Labor Day fires in 2020, Willamette Week reported. Calhoun's commutation was revoked by current Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek earlier this month.
Kotek spokesperson Elisabeth Shepard sent KGW the following statement when asked about Calhoun's commutation status: "The governor’s office received a request to revoke Jesse Lee Calhoun's commutation status from the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office on July 3, 2023, and fulfilled the request the same day. We do not have further comment as this is a pending investigation."
The District Attorney's Office said in Monday's news release that they don't believe there is a threat to the public. "Based on the available information to investigators, there is not believed to be any active danger to the community at this time," the DA's office said in Monday's news release.
The women's remains were all found within 100 miles of each other in and around Portland, and in most cases, they were discovered in forested or rural areas.
Smith, who was 22 years old, was found Feb. 19 near Southeast Deardorff Road and Flavel Street in Portland. A missing person report was filed with Gresham police on Dec. 22, 2022.
Perry's remains were discovered in Ainsworth State Park on April 24. The 24-year-old had been missing since early March.
Webster, 31, was found on April 30 in Polk County.
Real's remains were discovered by deputies on May 7 in a heavily wooded area near Eagle Creek, off Southeast Judd Road in rural Clackamas County. The 22-year-old had last been seen in late March and a missing person report was filed with Portland police on April 4, 2023.
The DA's office said in the news release that it's not releasing any more information, including how the four deaths are linked. They also said the cause and manner of death for the four women has yet to be determined by the Oregon State Medical Examiner.
KGW first reported June 1 about the deaths of six women who'd been found dead in the span of a few months in and around Portland. KGW reached out to law enforcement agencies at the time, and the sheriff's offices from Polk and Clackamas County responded and said they were talking to partner agencies to see if the cases were connected. The Portland Police Bureau didn't respond until June 4, when the bureau sent out a news release saying there was "no reason to believe" the cases were connected. A couple days later, a source close to the investigation told The Oregonian that PPB's statement was premature.
RELATED: Portland police: 'No reason to believe' 6 cases of women found dead in past few months are connected
On June 4, Portland police ruled out foul play in the case of one of the six deaths, an unidentified woman found dead on April 24 near Interstate 205 and Southeast Flavel Street in Portland.
In its news release Monday, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office did not mention Joanna Speaks, who went missing and was found dead during the same time frame as Smith, Perry, Webster and Real. Speaks, 32, vanished in late March and her remains were found April 8 near an abandoned barn in a rural area of Clark County, north of Portland. She died of blunt head and neck injuries and the medical examiner classified her death as a homicide.
The Clark County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) reported Monday afternoon that its major crimes unit (MCU) is communicating with detectives from the other law enforcement agencies. "At this time, MCU detectives have no evidence confirming that Joanna Speaks' homicide is connected to these other cases." CCSO said detectives continue to gather and review evidence and statements. Anyone with information about Speaks' death is asked to contact the CCSO Major Crimes Unit tip line at 564-397-2847.
In Monday's news release, the DA's office named nine law enforcement agencies that have been working together on the four death investigations: Gresham Police Department, Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, Multnomah County District Attorney's Office, Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, Clackamas County District Attorney's Office, Polk County Sheriff's Office, Polk County District Attorney's Office and Oregon State Police.
How to contact law enforcement with information
- Kristin Smith's case: Contract PPB Det. Jeffery Pontius at 503-823-0433 or jeffery.pontius@police.portlandoregon.gov.
- Charity Perry's case: Contact the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office tip line at 503-988-0560 or Det. Kevin Odil at kevin.odil@mcso.us.
- Bridget Webster's case: Contact Polk County Det. David Shorter at shorter.david@co.polk.or.us.
- Ashley Real's case: Contact the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office tip line at 503-723-4949 or submit a tip online here.
People can also submit tips anonymously to Crime Stoppers of Oregon by e-mailing crimetips@portlandoregon.gov. Crime Stoppers of Oregon offers cash rewards of up to $2,500 cash for information that leads to an arrest in any unsolved felony. Tipsters can remain anonymous. Report a tip online here.