A “serious, dangerous serial killer” appears to be preying on homeless people in Orange County, police said Wednesday as they raced to find a dark-clothed suspect in connection with three stabbing deaths.

Police have only a vague description of that suspect, captured in surveillance video in the moments leading up to the first attack. They believe the killer is a male, and they can see in the video that he was wearing a dark hoody when he approached a sleeping homeless man from behind.

The video also shows a white Toyota Corolla, model year 2000 to 2003, in a parking lot near where the killing happened. A time stamp on the video suggests the car pulled out more than an hour before the attack; police have said they believe the killer laid in wait for some time before approaching the victim.

But a special task force of investigators formed to find the killer has released no further description of the suspect or the car. Police on Wednesday appealed to the public for any information, saying what might seem like an insignificant detail could turn out to be a big help for their investigation.

They asked that anyone with information call the Anaheim Police Department at 714-765-1944 or email htf@anaheim.net.

Anaheim police Chief John Welter described the killer on Wednesday as “what we believe to be a serious, dangerous serial killer operating in Orange County.” But investigators have so far found nothing that connects the three victims beyond their homelessness, he said.

The first of those victims was killed on Dec. 20 as he slept outside a shopping center in Placentia; he was identified as James McGillivray, 53. The next victim was found eight days later on the Santa Ana River Trail, near the 91 Freeway; he was identified as Lloyd Middaugh, 42.

The third victim was killed two days later, on late Friday afternoon, behind the Yorba Linda library. He was identified as Paulus Cornelius Smit, 57. A photo of him, framed by the words, “Rest In Peace Dutch,” stood at a small candlelit memorial to him at a stairwell behind the library this week.

All three victims were stabbed multiple times. A police bulletin posted at a Fullerton homeless shelter also reported that all three men were killed as they slept alone. But Anaheim Sgt. Bob Dunn said Wednesday that police are still investigating what the men were doing when they were attacked.

“The information in there is not wholly correct,” he said of the bulletin. He declined to speak in any more detail.

He and other officials have released little information about their investigation, such as whether they have recovered any weapons or believe the same weapon was used in all three killings. They also said Wednesday that they do not have a license-plate number or better description of the white Corolla, which they described as a vehicle of interest.

That Corolla is seen in the same surveillance video that captured the first attack, one of two cars parked near the Placentia shopping center. Police have tracked down and interviewed the owner of the other car, a delivery man. They have not found the owner of the Corolla and do not know whether it was connected to the attack, Dunn said.

Investigators are “pretty certain” that the three victims died at the hands of the same killer, Welter said. A special task force is now looking for that killer, with officers from Placentia, Anaheim and Brea — which polices Yorba Linda — as well as the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI.

Asked whether police in Orange County have issued any kind of alert to other law-enforcement agencies, Dunn said: “Outreach has occurred and we are using all our investigative resources.” He said he did not know the specifics of what had been sent out.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has assigned two veteran homicide trial attorneys to work with the task force. Several high-ranking prosecutors were scheduled to meet with investigators on Thursday to discuss the investigation.

Police also have circulated flyers in the homeless community, warning that homeless people appear to be targets. The message, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said, is “to be careful, to not be alone if possible, to not go into the dark areas, the isolated areas, as much as possible.”

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Contact the writer: 714-704-3709 or desalazar@ocregister.com