Police Expand 'Grim Sleeper' Serial Killer Probe to 230 Unsolved Cases

Los Angeles police are reviewing an additional 230 missing persons cases and unsolved killings to look for links to the alleged "Grim Sleeper" serial killer, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Lonnie David Franklin Jr., 57, a one-time city employee, was arrested on July 7, 2010 and charged with killing at least 10 women, many of them prostitutes, and dumping their remains in alleys and trash bins around South Los Angeles.

Previous efforts to review unsolved cases focused on the period from the early 1980s until Franklin's arrest last year, but detectives will now review cases from as early as May 1976, when Franklin finished his service in the army.

"There's no telling what we will find," one source told the newspaper. The source, who was not named in light of the ongoing criminal investigation, also said that it was unlikely many cases would be linked to Franklin, but the probe could provide long-awaited answers for families about their loved ones.

Police originally dubbed Franklin the "Grim Sleeper" because he seemed to have put a hold on his alleged killing spree between 1988 and 2002, although Los Angeles Police Department Detective Dennis Kilcoyne said in April that he expected authorities would be "filling in that gap" with additional crimes.

Franklin, who has pleaded not guilty, could face the death penalty if convicted.