Authorities monitoring the Cleveland neighborhood where kidnapper and rapist Ariel Castro once lived have charged a neighbor in the rape and murders of two other women dating to the 1990s.
Elias Acevedo Sr., 49, was arrested in June and charged Thursday with the kidnapping, rape and killing of 30-year-old Pamela Pemberton, and another woman whose remains are believed to be Christina Adkins, a pregnant 18-year-old who vanished in 1995, Reuters reports.
Castro was found hanged in his prison cell on Sept. 3 after being handed a life sentence for holding three women captive in his Cleveland home for a decade and repeatedly raping them.
Following Castro’s arrest earlier this year, police stepped up their investigations of missing persons cases and found out that Acevedo was a registered sex offender who had not reported his current address, which was down the street from Castro’s house, according to Reuters.
While being held, Acevedo confessed to the murders, Joe Frolik, spokesman for the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office, told Reuters. The FBI and prosecutors say he led them to a manhole where he hid Adkins’ body.
The remains, which were found two weeks ago, are believed to be Adkins’ after her identification card was found nearby, but they are still being examined by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office, Reuters reports.
Christina Adkins’ mother released a statement saying that she “knew” it was her.
“I know that at least now I have closure and she can get the burial she deserves,” the statement said, according to Fox 8. “I want to express my thanks to the FBI and everyone else involved.”
Acevedo is to be arraigned in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas court on Monday and faces 115 kidnapping charges and more than 173 rape charges among alleged incidents with Adkins, Pemberton and two other girls who were ages 8 and 11 at the time. He also faces charges in the 1993 rape of his brother’s common-law wife, Reuters reports.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
