8th, 9th Imperial Avenue Victims Identified

CLEVELAND - The Cuyahoga County coroner's office have identified the eighth and ninth victims in the Imperial Avenue slaying, Cleveland police said Monday.

Homicide Unit detectives and members of Mental Health Service's Violent Loss Response Team made notifications to the families of 48-year-old Janice D. Webb and 44-year-old Kim Yvette Smith, both of Cleveland.

Webb lived in the 9800 block of Manor Avenue in Cleveland, but had recently been living in Lakewood. Webb was reported missing to Cleveland Police on Aug. 2. She was last seen on June 3.

Although Cleveland Police checked with friends and relatives, at area hospitals and shelters, and at the morgue following Webb's disappearance, no further leads or information was found regarding her whereabouts.

Smith lived on Shaker Boulevard and was not reported missing to Cleveland police until Nov. 2 She was last seen on Jan. 1.

The coroner's office positively identified three other victims over the weekend: 47-year-old Amelda Hunter, 38-year-old Crystal Dozier and 45-year-old Michelle Mason, all of Cleveland.

Hunter lived in the 3200 block of East 137th Street. Her family reported her missing on Nov. 3, indicating that she was last seen on or about April 18, 2009.

Dozier, of Kinsman Avenue, was not reported as a missing person at the time of the discovery of the victims' bodies. She was reportedly last seen in October 2007.

Mason lived in the 2900 block of East 121st Street. She was reported missing in Cleveland on Oct. 12, 2008 by her mother, who stated that she last saw her daughter on or about Oct. 4, 2008.

At that time, it was reported to Cleveland police that Mason suffered from bipolar disorder and that she was not taking her prescribed medications.

Checks were made in Cleveland and in Garfield but the extensive investigative effort failed to provide any insight into her location.

Police notified the family of 43-year-old Nancy Cobbs Friday afternoon, telling them that she was among the Imperial Avenue victims.

Tishana Culver, 31, was identified Thursday by the Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office. Culver, who also lived on Imperial Avenue, was not reported as a missing person, police said. Culver was the mother to four children. The children live with their grandparents on Imperial Avenue. DNA was not used to identify Culver.

Another woman was Telacia Fortson, 31, of East Cleveland. She was the mother of three young children and had been missing since May 31.

Her family said they initially filed a missing persons report with East Cleveland police during the summer and then contacted Cleveland's 4th District on Sunday.

Tonia Carmichael, 52, of Warrensville Heights, was the first woman identified. Her body was one of the first six discovered in the back yard of the home.

Meanwhile, Sowell was indicted Monday by a grand jury in connection with the assault and rape of a 36-year-old woman in September.

It was the investigation of this alleged attack that led police to Sowell's home and the discovery of 11 slain women.

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