Police said there wasn't a serial killer in Detroit. Now there's a serial killer in Detroit

There appears to be a serial killer targeting women in Detroit after all.

On Wednesday, police revealed that three female sex workers had been found dead on the city's east side by "a serial killer and rapist," their bodies all dumped in vacant buildings in the past three months.

The news comes several weeks after the department brushed off social media posts about a serial killer as unsubstantiated rumor. The posts followed the discovery of a woman's body in a dumpster on the east side. They alleged the Detroit Police Department was trying to hide what was happening.

Police Chief James Craig maintained Wednesday that those early fears were unsubstantiated.

Those "rumors," he told reporters, spoke to "a serial killer dumping bodies in dumpsters. That was found not to be true. This has no connection to that, this is very different." 

ALERT: @detroitpolice Chief James Craig said the serial killer they announced today is NOT connected to rumors circulating on social media last month about an alleged serial killer dumping bodies in dumpsters. https://t.co/UKmnHyedpL pic.twitter.com/jwyr5MhZ9g

— WXYZ Detroit (@wxyzdetroit) June 5, 2019

A separate suspect was identified in the May 15 dumpster killing that sparked the posts. 

Police have no description of the alleged assailant in the three related cases, Craig said.

The latest victim was found in a house near Mack and Gratiot this morning. The other victims, police say, were found May 24 and March 19. They were 52 and 53 years old.