Police in Cleveland, Ohio, are searching a suburban neighbourhood after the discovery of three dead women there.
Police chief Ralph Spotts reportedly expects them to find one or two more bodies.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports the first body was discovered in the garage of a house on Friday after police received several calls about a foul smell.
A search of the area on Saturday resulted in the discovery of two more bodies: one in a backyard close to the garage and another in the basement of a nearby vacant house.
The BBC reports all the women were black. Police said they had been wrapped in several plastic bags.
Chief Spotts said the focus of the search would be on 50 to 60 abandoned buildings in the area, and railroad tracks. Specially-trained dogs have been brought in to help.
A man, reported to be a registered sex offender, is in custody. Michael Madison, 35, was arrested on Friday. He has not been charged.
Cleveland was at the centre of another gruesome case in May when three women who vanished separately more than a decade ago, were found alive in a house about 10 miles away from the latest incident.
School bus driver Ariel Castro, 53, is facing nearly 1000 charges including kidnapping, rape and aggravated murder.
