Indiana police have identified Texas sex offender Darren Deon Vann as the main suspect involving the murder of 19-year-old Afrikka Hardy and six other women in Gary, Indiana.

The 43-year-old confessed to the murders Monday morning after Hardy was found strangled to death in a Motel 6 on Friday. Vann, who hasn’t been charged with the murders as of yet, also admitted to killing 43-year-old Anith Jones, 35, of Merrillville, Ind. Jones was reported missing by her family earlier this month.

Vann says he dumped the decomposed bodies in abandoned houses.

Police Chief John Doughty said Vann told officers he had “messed up” in committing the latest killing and was surprised that police tracked him down so quickly. Authorities announced early Monday that they have discovered the bodies of three more slain women in Gary, Ind., following Vann’s weekend confession. The Lake County coroner’s office said the women were found Sunday night in two different locations in Gary. The coroner’s office called the three new deaths all homicides, with one victim strangled and unspecified injuries for the other two women. The bodies of seven slain women have been discovered in the two cities since late Friday. Police in Hammond, Ind., were led to Vann, who has not yet been formally charged, after finding the body of Afrika Hardy, 19, at Motel 6 on Friday. She had been strangled, according to the Lake County coroner’s office. A subsequent interrogation of the person of interest … led to the man making a confession and then leading detectives to the city of Gary where several other female victims of possible homicides were located,” Hammond Police Lt. Richard Hoyda said in a written statement. On Sunday, Gary police say the man led police to three victims — all women — in that city. One of those women discovered was Anith Jones, 35, of Merrillville, Ind. She had been reported missing by family earlier this month. Jones’ body was found in the same abandoned home where two other bodies were found Sunday night.

Police called Vann an “admitted killer” and sex offender who moved to Gary from Austin, Texas 10 years ago. Little is known about how Vann met the women or his motive.

Stay tuned for more details to follow in this chilling case.

SOURCE: USA Today | VIDEO CREDIT: News Inc.

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