A US border patrol agent has been charged with murdering four women in a two-week "serial killing spree" that ended when a fifth woman escaped.

Juan David Ortiz, 35, was arrested on Saturday after being found hiding in a truck in a hotel car park in the city of Laredo in southern Texas.

He had worked as a supervisor for Customs and Border Protection for ten years and investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the killings.

"We do consider this to be a serial killer," said Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz.

Authorities believe Ortiz had killed all four victims since 3 September.

Texas Rangers began investigating after the body of mother-of-two Melissa Ramirez, 29, was found in Laredo near an intersection with Highway 255, according to a report in the Laredo Morning Times.

The second victim, 42-year-old Claudine Anne Luera, was found seriously injured off the same highway on Thursday morning and died in hospital the same day.

Law enforcement officers recovered the bodies of the third and fourth victims along Interstate 35 in rural northwest Webb County this weekend.

"The manner in which they were killed is similar in all the cases from the evidence," said Mr Alaniz.

"It’s interesting that he would be observing and watching as law enforcement was looking for the killer, that he would be reporting to work every day like normal.

"In our opinion he is the sole person responsible for this horrific serial killing spree."

According to local media reports the victims all died as a result of a gunshot wound to the head.

Ortiz picked up another woman but she realised she was in danger and tried to get away, Mr Alaniz told the Texas Tribune.

"When she tried to escape from him at a gas station that's when she ran into a state trooper," he said.

The Most Notorious Serial Killers Show all 20 1 /20 The Most Notorious Serial Killers The Most Notorious Serial Killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were found guilty of murder, in the sensational 'Bodies of the Moor' trial. Both were sentenced to life imprisonment. Getty The Most Notorious Serial Killers Harold Shipman Shipman was convicted of murdering 15 of his elderly patients in Hyde, Greater Manchester but an inquiry later concluded he probably murdered 250 people over the course of his career as a GP. Getty The Most Notorious Serial Killers Ted Bundy Ted Bundy confessed to killing 30 young women and girls across the US in the 1970s. He was executed by electric chair in 1989. AP The Most Notorious Serial Killers Fred and Rosemary West Serial killers Fred and Rosemary West who committed at least 12 murders between 1967 and 1987 in Gloucestershire. PA The Most Notorious Serial Killers Charles Manson Charles Manson, a hippie cult leader, orchestrated the murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others in Los Angeles during the summer of 1969. Rex The Most Notorious Serial Killers Andrei Chikatilo Notorious Ukrainian cannibalistic serial killer Andrei Chikatilo who was charged with the murders of 53 people. Getty Images The Most Notorious Serial Killers Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper murdered female prostitutes who lived and worked in the East End of London. Their throats were cut prior to internal organs being removed from the bodies. The killer was never caught. Getty Images The Most Notorious Serial Killers Beverley Allitt Nurse, Beverley Allitt, murdered four children and injured others during her time at the children's ward at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincolnshire in 1991. PA The Most Notorious Serial Killers Edmund Kemper Kemper murdered his paternal grandparents aged 15 and was sent to a maximum-security facility that housed mentally ill convicts. However, was released after convincing the psychiatrists that he had been rehabilitated aged 21. He went on to murder several women, including his mother in the 1970s, where he engaged in necrophilia after the killings. Bettmann Archive/Getty The Most Notorious Serial Killers Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Dahmer confessed to murders of 17 men lured to his apartment. He kept the skulls of his victims after eating parts of some of them. Channel 4 The Most Notorious Serial Killers Gary Ridgway Gary Ridgway received 48 life sentences, with out the possibility of parole, for killing 48 women in the Green River Killer serial murder case. Getty Images The Most Notorious Serial Killers Peter Sutcliffe Peter Sutcliffe, became known as the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ after he murdered 13 women between 1975 and 1980. Most of his victims were prostitutes. Express Newspapers/Getty The Most Notorious Serial Killers The Zodiac Killer The Zodiac Killer murdered several victims between the 1960s and 70s. He sent a series of letters to the local press in Northern California which included cryptograms to help solve the murders. The killer's identity remains unknown. The Most Notorious Serial Killers Joanna Dennehy Joanna Dennehy stabbed three men to death and attempted to murder another two people during the 'Peterborough ditch murders'. She carried out the crime over a 10-day period in 2013. PA The Most Notorious Serial Killers Tsutomu Miyazaki Tsutomu Miyazaki who was sentenced to death in 1997 after carrying out the gruesome killings of four young girls. He abducted, killed and indulged in sexual activities with their corpses, as well as keeping body parts of the victims and sending postcards to their families describing the murders. AFP/Getty Images The Most Notorious Serial Killers Aileen Wuornos Aileen Wuornos murdered six men whilst she was working as a prostitute. She shot them all at point-blank range between 1989 and 1990. Getty Images The Most Notorious Serial Killers Dennis Nilsen Nilsen, the 'Muswell Hill Murderer', is a serial killer and necrophiliac. He murdered at least 12 men between 1978 and 1983. PA The Most Notorious Serial Killers John Wayne Gacy John Wayne Gacy sexually assaulted, tortured and murdered at least 33 teenage boys and men between 1972 and 1978. Rex Features The Most Notorious Serial Killers Dennis Rader Dennis Rader, 'the BTK murderer', killed 10 times between 1974 and 1991. His first victims were all from one family. The pattern of systematic torture, lead him to be called the ‘Bind, Tie, Kill (BTK) murderer’. Getty Images The Most Notorious Serial Killers Mary Ann Cotton Mary Ann Cotton was believed to have had as many as 21 victims. She is thought to have used arsenic to poison and kill three of her four husbands, possibly as many as eight of her own children, seven stepchildren, her mother, a lover and an inconvenient friend. She was hung on March 24, 1873, after being found guilty of murdering her stepson. Rex Features

Troopers confronted Ortiz at 2am on Saturday but he ran off to a nearby hotel in central Laredo and was later found hiding in a truck in the parking area.

"We feel that our efforts have gathered strong evidence against this killer," Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar said in a statement. "Our community is safe from this killer. My condolences to the families of the four victims who were murdered within the past two weeks."

He has been charged with four counts of murder as well as aggravated assault and unlawful restraint.

US Customs and Border Protection issued a statement saying that it was fully cooperating with the investigation.

"Our sincerest condolences go out to the victims' family and friends," said Andrew Meehan, Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs.

"While it is CBP policy to not comment on the details of an ongoing investigation, criminal action by our employees is not, and will not be tolerated."