Fourth Atlantic City prostituted woman identified

[sam]

Body of fourth woman found in ditch near Atlantic City is identified

By WAYNE PARRY, AP

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- Now that authorities know the identities of all four women whose bodies were found face-down in a drainage ditch behind a string of seedy motels last week, the really hard part starts: Trying to determine if their deaths were the work of a serial killer.

The body of a woman whose identity had stymied investigators for more than a week since it was found near three other corpses was identified Tuesday as a 20-year-old from western Pennsylvania.

Molly Jean Dilts was believed to have been in the ditch the longest -- up to a month.

Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey Blitz said he could not speculate on whether a serial killer is to blame for the deaths because the cause of death for two of the women has not been established.

"There are similarities in the four deaths," he said. "What we have now is two confirmed homicides and two undetermined causes of death that are being investigated as homicides."

The prosecutor noted that all four women were found face-down in a drainage ditch behind motels along the Black Horse Pike just west of the Atlantic City border. All were barefoot and their heads were facing east toward the Atlantic City casinos.

At least three of the women were known prostitutes, but there was conflicting information as to whether Dilts was involved in prostitution. Lt. Michael Dunford, commander of the Atlantic City Police Department's special investigations unit, said she had not been arrested there and was not known to city police.

But several prostitutes working along Pacific Avenue who were shown a photo of Dilts said Tuesday they had seen the woman, whom who they knew as Molly, soliciting customers on the street. One transvestite prostitute who would not give his name, said, "I dated with her."

Blitz said he could not comment on the prostitutes' claims, and said Dilts' background is still being investigated. She had no known occupation locally, he said.

Joe Boccino, who owns Papa Joe's Restaurant, where many prostitutes buy food, said he saw Dilts a few weeks ago.

"She comes and goes, comes and goes," he said. "She was always very polite with everybody in the neighborhood."

Boccino said he saw no evidence she was involved in prostitution.

Dilts had last been in touch with her family in Blairsville, Pa., about 42 miles east of Pittsburgh, on Oct. 7, authorities said. A missing persons report about her had been filed and Dilts' fingerprints were used to learn her identity.

Dilts was charged last year in Pennsylvania for assault and possession of drug paraphernalia, but did not show up for a court hearing in May, according to court records.

An autopsy could not determine her cause of death. She had no known local address, authorities said.

For the past week, authorities had circulated images of Dilts' tattoos in hopes she could be identified. She had a red and black tattoo of a bulldog on the small of her back, a tattoo of a Playboy bunny in a heart on her upper right shoulder and a faded tattoo that read "Molly" on her stomach around her navel above a tiny blue butterfly.

Local tattoo parlors had no record of her being there, and said the Playboy bunny was crudely drawn, leading to speculation that it was done by an amateur.

The other women have been identified as Kim Raffo, 35, Tracy Ann Roberts, 23, and Barbara V. Breidor, 42. Raffo, who had been living in Atlantic City, was strangled. Roberts, whose last known address also was in Atlantic City, died from asphyxia, but authorities do not know exactly how she was killed.

Like Dilts, a cause of death could not be determined for Breidor, who grew up in Pennsylvania and most recently lived in Ventnor.

Raffo's body had been in the ditch for a couple of days. Authorities have said the body now identified as Dilts had been there for up to a month.

Blitz also said the murders of two prostitutes and the slashing of a third earlier this year on the same street in Atlantic City do not appear to be related to the four ditch deaths.

"They are dissimilar to the women found in Egg Harbor," he said. "There were two bodies, one of which was set on fire, that were found in their apartments. The manner of death was with a sharp instrument."

[sunnysmiles]

I am finding these murders really painful to even read about.

[sam]

Looks like the feminist blogosphere is finding the Atlantic City serial murdering of prostituted women too painful to write about because I haven't seen mention of it anywhere save once exception, Feminist Law Professors blog http://feministlawprofs.law.sc.edu/?p=1234.

Molly Jean Dilts, 20
Kim Raffo, 35
Tracy Ann Roberts, 23
Barbara V. Breidor, 42
two other prostitutes murdered on the same street earlier this year, one set on fire

You'd think the sex worker rights folks might find a few words to say about these murdered women, but nope, not yet. I wonder how high the body count of hookers has to get before "a-list" feminists take notice.

Pardon me if that's a mite growly, but earlier today I had a discussion with an older feminist woman who just about cried talking about today's up-n-coming career feminists who promote whoring as a woman's right as if that's a "right" women have been denied or something.

[sunnysmiles]

I'll put it up on my blog.

[annared]

I've just put it on mine