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Anyone looking at this house in a East Side lower middle class neighborhood would never know that it was a house of horrors.....Last Friday that all changed...forever.
Here in Cleveland we have some problems,joblessness,poverty,foreclosured homes rampant on the East Side. We now have a problem that may have gone under the radar, but now is about to get National Attention...We Hope. Because Something Smells Here in Cleveland, more than just the Rotting Bodies at Imperial Ave. And while we still have Backhoes there, we need National Coverage of this mess that went Under-reported by Police and Media and while Countless Women are still Missing.
Did the Police Fail to Protect an Entire Community from a Sexual Criminal ?The facts broke Halloween Weekend just like a grisly Stephen King novel leaked...Bodies found at an East Side Residence after Police came to talk to the resident about Sexual Assault Complaints were filed against the Owner. The Owner is a 50 year old man who served time for Sexual Assault& rape,15 years in Prison.In 1989 he assaulted,strangled and raped a woman, he was arrested for this crime and then served 15 years in prison for this crime. In 2005 he left prison he was only required to register his address to his parole officer.Periodically the Police would check that he did live at address he gave Authorities. Meanwhile the Neighborhood had NO idea that a Convicted Rapist was living in their neighborhood these past 4 years. The families and women in that Hood should have been warned. Also one has to wonder were there ANY complaints by women while he lived there ? According to news stations various reports interviewing neighbors, there were calls and complaints about actiivity at that house.
The Women Go Missing.....And No One Knows ?Over the past few years women started disappearing from the neighborhood. Yet it was not reported on the Local News. Now this week, finally we have seen fliers of these Missing Women and we hear their stories, many are young women with families and children. Yet until this week we knew NOTHING of their Vanishings ? As a woman, a mom, I am outraged. How and Why this happened. Was the Silence about these Missing Women because it is an impoverished area of the East Side ? Was it because the Women are Black ? Because they were poor? Or because Police Services were cut to that district? WHY didn't the Police publicize the Missing Women and take their photos and names to the Local Media ? Would the Media Have Covered their Situation ? Down Below I will post their photos and information I can find on them.At this point We need to know how many are actually missing. Within a one block radius of the House on Imperial supposedly it is up to 8 women Missing. Didn't the Police Map out the Missing Women and Wonder WHY a Cluster of Missing women are from the same area ?
Police had been to Sowell's Home 4 times this past year,Why was he not arrested or Foul Odors Investigated ? Mr.Sowell was arrested on Saturday Afternoon after Police and Federal Marshalls searched all night for him.They began their search after arriving at him home to speak to him about a woman that claimed she was sexually assaulted at his home on Sept22nd. ( The Public is mystified WHY it took over a month to arrive at his home and question him, much less arrest him for these allegations that involved sexual assault,rape and strangulation with an electrical cord.) During recent days we have learned Police visited his home in December 2008,March2009,June 2009 and September 2009.We learned that supposedly they did not enter home or investigate the foul odors coming from the home. They also did not arrest him or take him for questioning. One other women supposedly filed charges this year, but then dropped her charges due to "Intimidation", and even that was not investigated. On Friday Evening October30th, he was not at the home, but this time the Police did enter and they at first found 2 decomposed Bodies on an upper floor. Over the next 24 hours they would find another partially buried in the basement, and then one in the yard and then two in the backyard. Six Bodies were found by Sunday,in various states of Decomposition, and beyond recognition. By Sunday the Museum of Natural History was contacted by the Police and Coroners Office to help identify bodies, date the decomposition and gender of the bodies. All six so far are women and 5 are known strangulation ( local news reports, there still has been NO formal report or press conference by Police or Coroner's office).
What we learned from watching the Vigil on Monday Nov2nd. About the Missing Women.Monday Night Clevelanders watched the local news and a Vigil had been planned to be held on Imperial Ave. More than a hundred showed up and not only grieved but shared information about the Missing Women. From local news reports it looks that there are atleast 8 Missing Women from that area of the location. The Families shared fliers and outrage as they realized that none of them knew about Sowell in their area, a Known Rapist, or of the other missing women. And yes, questions started to swirl as People started asking HOW did this happen and How Many are really missing ?
The Issue of the Odors in the NeighborhoodSo even Friday Night when the News Crews showed up when questioning people in the neighborhood about Sowell, most did not know him or the house, but many reported a Foul Odor in the Neighborhood." Oh, so bodies were found there, THAT must be the Odor" I saw three separate interviews on different stations where people reported the Odor. On another station a person reported that Neighbors had always thought the Odors Originated from the Sausage Factory. On Monday Channel 5 went and interviewed Sausage Workers, and they too had smelled the Odors and said they did not know the smell came from. All described it as a "Rotting Animal Smell", one Sausage worker said " I thought maybe some animal had died in the Sewer".
Sowells History :::Scraping and Many Boxes of Large Garbage bagsOn Monday Nov2 Channel5 News Ron Reagon went and interviewed the local Grocer in the Neighborhood, and the owner admitted that yes he knew Sowell quite well," because he was frequently in buying LARGE BOXES OF LARGE STURDY HEFTY GARBAGE BAGS" .Tuesday November3 the street was closed and Excavation equipment and Cadaver Dogs were brought to the Imperial Street Address.
Channel 4 (Nov3) interviewed the man,Don Laster, that had helped rescue a woman that was found outside naked on the ground by the home in September, supposedly she was not clothed barely conscious and bystanders called 911 and gave a tshirt, supposedly medics came and took her to hospital. No Police reports from that day have been found or released to the public.One of the men that tended to her said she was barely conscious and was under debris in the yard and he took photos of her under a pile of debris. Sowell was naked in the yard and yelled, begging not to have Police Called.It is unclear WHY police did not come to this event, even though Sowell yelled to bystanders that she was his wife ( like that would justify her being thrown off a porch nude ? ) Why wasn't he picked up and questioned about this injured woman ? EMS supposedly did go to home- where are the reports from that day ?
Tuesday November 3rd Updates:::News Crews have been by home all day, 3 Coroner Vans have been to home today,and cadaver dogs. Atleast More Body Bags have been removed. Police today are saying they do not know how many are there. Excavation equipment is still there. Many are concerned that this man was a known Scraper, going to East Side neighborhoods looking for scrape metal. Very concerning is that this man might have been looking for empty houses. Today digging continued at the houses, the basement, the garage.
FIRST OFFICIAL POLICE NEWS CONFERENCE IS ON AT 6PM There are more Questions than Answers here in Cleveland....~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More Articles on this.(1)
Nov3: Channel 19 NEWS now has a LIVE feed and Camera Set up and Hourly updates(2) Philip Morris's Excellent post in Cleveland
Plain Dealer explores more of the issues involved with this case.(3)
More from the Examiner on this case.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PLEASE SEE MORE DAILY UPDATES IN COMMENTS. Channel 19 has POSTERS of Many of the MISSING WOMEN~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thursday November 5th Update:
Three Bodies have been Identified.
Tuesday Tonia Carmicheal (53) first one identified from Backyard remains.
Thursday Nov5th, Telacia Fortson missing since Junest , and Tishana Culver 31 ( resident of Imperial Ave) both identified.
( * The "T" names -Coinicidence )
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( Am attending site on Friday will post more at that time from the Missing Wall- as no MSM station has posted All the MISSING WOMEN Posters that are on Wall there) 123rd)
