Families of serial killer victims believe latest death linked

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Hundreds of people rallied on the state Capitol steps Sunday, calling on authorities to dedicate more resources to catching a serial killer who has murdered at least four women.

The victims' survivors and many others at the rally said they suspect the killer may also have murdered Carrie Yoder, 26, a Louisiana State University student whose body was found last week in the same area as one of the confirmed victims, Pam Kinamore. Police have not linked the killings.

People passed out pictures of murdered loved ones, a sketch of a man police have called a "person of interest" in the killings and flyers with the hot line number for tips in the case. Families and friends of murdered women wore shirts bearing the victims' photos.

"The truth is I don't care how many of these cases have been linked by DNA evidence," said Ed White, Kinamore's brother-in-law. "The truth is either we have one serial killer in Baton Rouge or we have a lot of killers in Baton Rouge, and either way we've got a serious problem here."

A task force of the local police, state police and federal officials has been investigating the serial killings and assisting in other investigations to determine if any other murdered women in the area are connected to the serial killer.

Demonstrators complained that church and political leaders and the business community should put more pressure on investigators and ask for additional help for local law enforcement.

Rally attendees held signs that read, "How many more?" and "We Will Not Give Up," each bearing the picture of a woman whose murder has not been solved.

Yoder, 26, of Tampa, Fla., died of asphyxiation, but police have refused to say if she was strangled, suffocated or drowned. Her body was found by a fisherman Thursday in the Whiskey Bay area of the Atchafalaya River Basin.

A state police crime lab is testing evidence taken from Yoder's body to determine if any DNA evidence links Yoder's death to the other four known victims.

Yoder's family, who didn't attend Sunday's rally, say they are not assuming the killing was related.