Remains of 11th victim found in Cleveland

CLEVELAND, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- A coroner has identified one of the bodies found at the Cleveland home of a suspected serial killer as that of a 52-year-old woman who vanished a year ago.

Also Wednesday, the death toll at the former home of Anthony Sowell climbed when authorities said a skull found in the basement was that of an 11th victim.

Dr. Frank Miller, the Cuyahoga County coroner, said the first of the victims to be identified, Tonia Carmichael of Warrensville Heights, was among the first six found last week at the home, WEWS-TV, Cleveland, reported.

Police did not give the cause of death, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported.

Carmichael had disappeared last November and a family member found the car she had been driving about a mile from Sowell's Imperial Avenue house, The Plain Dealer said.

Daughter Donnita Carmichael told the newspaper police notified her family Wednesday afternoon that her mother's body was found in the house.

"We expected the worst when these bodies starting popping up," she said, sobbing. "We knew she could be one of them. We feared this."

All the victims are black women, and at least five were strangled.

Cleveland Municipal Judge Ronald Adrine ordered Sowell, 50, held without bond Wednesday on five counts of aggravated murder. The judge called the charges against Sowell the most serious he'd ever seen.

"(Sowell) is an incredibly dangerous threat to the public, not only in Cleveland, but beyond the city's limits," Assistant County Prosecutor Brian Murphy said.

Sowell faces the death penalty if convicted, Murphy said.