SOUTH CENTRAL U.S. Authorities compare notes on slayings

The seven women were found dead in four states.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The bodies were strewn from the Texas Panhandle to northern Mississippi, dumped along highways or near creeks. Some of the seven women had been strangled. Most of them were prostitutes. Some of them were last seen at truck stops.
On Friday, more than 40 law-enforcement officials from five states and 17 agencies met in Oklahoma City to compare notes and determine whether the women were victims of the same killer -- perhaps a long-haul truck driver preying on truck-stop prostitutes.
The bodies were discovered between July and January in four states: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi.
These will be difficult cases to solve, said Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
"These victims didn't stay in one place long," she said. "People don't necessarily recognize them. A lot of these victims did not have tight relationships with their families. A lot of times, families help us solve crimes."
The victims
Of the seven victims, at least six were prostitutes. Four were from the Oklahoma City area. At least four were last seen at truck stops, and at least three were strangled. Some were in their 30s and 40s. One was 19. Most of the bodies were nude.
"I don't think we've definitely linked any of the cases," Brown said.
Investigator Todd Hignight of the Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Department has been looking into one of the slayings, that of Patsy Laverne Leonard, a prostitute found strangled Jan. 1.
"We're kind of running out of leads now," Hignight said.
Besides Leonard, the victims were: Casey Jo Pipestem, Sandra Beard, Jennifer Hyman, Margaret Gardner, Sandra Richardson and an unidentified woman found in Texas.