featured storyOne of 10 people found dead at sex offender's Cleveland home identified as missing mother

First Victim Found Dead on Ohio Sex Offender's Property Identified as Missing Mother

Carmichael struggled with drug addiction and vanished in November 2008, her daughter Donita Carmichael told Fox News' Shepard Smith. Her car was found only four blocks from Anthony SowellAnthony Sowell's home, where investigators say they've discovered nine other bodies in the past week.

"From what we understand, he preyed on women that fit my mother's profile, women that suffered from drug addiction, that frequented that area," Donita Carmichael said. "And he ultimately did what he felt like doing, which was taking her life from her."

Earlier Wednesday, Sowell, 50, was ordered held without bond after a prosecutor described him as an "incredibly dangerous threat to the public." He appeared before Municipal Court Judge Ronald Adrine on five counts of aggravated murder.

Authorities say more bodies could be found on his property. They searched Sowell's home, yard and nearby vacant buildings again Wednesday.

"We’ve gone a quarter-mile radius around that house, searched abandoned homes, abandoned buildings looking for perhaps more victims," Cleveland Police Lt. Thomas Stacho told Fox News.

Sowell has been in jail since last week, when police discovered the first six bodies Thursday and Friday after a woman reported being raped at Sowell's home.

Additional bodies and a skull were found Tuesday, raising the number of total victims to 11 plus one partial skull.

Cuyahoga County Coroner Dr. Frank MillerFrank Miller said seven were killed by ligature strangulation, one manual strangulation, two homicidal violence and the other victim's autopsy is still being completed.

Ligature strangulation, Miller explained, means that at the time of autopsy something was still tied around the victim's neck.

Miller said they are working on identifying the victims, but need biological family members of missing African-American women in the area to come forward.

Miller said only five people have submitted DNA references so far. He is also hoping to get dental records, which Miller says would make identification easier and faster.

Investigators believe Sowell would meet women in bars or on the street, offer to go drinking with them and then lure them back to his house and sexually assault them, Stacho said. Some of those attacks turned deadly, according to police.

A number of his victims managed to break free, Stacho said. One of those who escaped described being physically assaulted by Sowell and then dragged back to his house.

Authorities don't know how long the alleged murders and rapes have been going on inside Sowell's home. He has been out of jail since 2005 after completing a 15-year sentence, Stacho said.

The coronor said, however, that some of the bodies could have been there since 2005.

"It appears that this man had an insatiable appetite that he had to fill," said Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath.

Sowell looked straight at the judge as a prosecutor asked that he be held without bond and described him as an "incredibly dangerous threat to the public."

Investigators said they found one body in a shallow grave in the backyard. The rest were inside the house — one in the basement, two in the third-floor living room and two in an upstairs crawl space.

They found four more bodies Tuesday in Sowell's backyard, as well as a skull wrapped in paper inside a bucket in his basement.

The stench from the remains led to numerous complaints from neighbors who thought it was coming from Ray's Sausage next door, forcing the business to replace its drainage pipes and sewage line, owner Renee Cash told Fox News. But she had no idea the awful smell was that of decomposing bodies, she said.

Sowell appeared in court under tight security, wearing a blue paper jumpsuit typically used when an inmate might be a suicide risk. His wrists and ankles were shackled.

During the brief appearance, Sowell acknowledged his understanding of the charges — five aggravated murder counts for the first victims whose cause of death has been ruled strangling. He faces the death penalty if convicted of the charges.

In addition, he faces charges of rape, felonious assault and kidnapping for a Sept. 22 attack on a woman at his home.

Sowell responded, "That's correct," when Municipal Court Judge Ronald Adrine asked him if he was unable to afford an attorney and needed one assigned by the court.

Public defender Kathleen DeMetz told the judge that Sowell has medical problems, including a heart pacemaker and cardiac medication. He was laid off two years ago and receives unemployment compensation.

The case now goes before the county grand jury.

After Sowell's court appearance, deputy Police Chief Ed Tomba said investigators have finished digging through the backyard and will begin tearing apart walls inside the house Wednesday in search of more evidence or bodies.

"We're going to go bit by bit, piece by piece," he said.

A crowd of about 100 people milled about and chatted near the home Tuesday evening. A short while later, around 50 people joined hands and put their arms around each other in the middle of the street and prayed aloud.

One of those in the crowd, Antoinnette Dudley, 29, lives a few houses away. She said she could smell a terrible odor like something was dead all summer. She said she saw Sowell only a few times, mainly drinking beer while he sat on his porch.

"I didn't think he was that sick," she said.

As a registered sex offender, Sowell was required to check in regularly at the sheriff's office. Officers didn't have the right to enter his house, but they would stop by to make sure he was there. Their most recent visit was Sept. 22, just hours before the woman reported being raped.

FoxNews.com's Michelle Maskaly, Fox News' Jamie Colby and The Associated Press contributed to this report.