ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The body of a Minnesota woman who had been missing for two years was found in a storage unit, and St. Paul police said Friday her death was linked to a man who charged man after man The woman’s dismembered body was found in a different storage unit in another Minneapolis suburb.
Joseph Jorgenson has yet to be charged in the death of Fanta Xayavong, but the 40-year-old was charged last week with second-degree murder in the death of Manijeh “Mani” Starren, 33, the report reported. Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Xayavong’s body was found in a storage unit in Coon Rapids on Thursday, while Starren’s body was found in a storage unit in Woodbury last month.
Saint Paul Police Sgt. Mike Ernster said Jorgenson was a “person of interest” in the death of Xayavong, 33, after investigators connected him to the Coon Rapids storage unit. Police are now trying to determine if Jorgenson could be linked to other missing persons.
“It’s nothing short of awful,” Ernster said.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension received a tip in May that Xayavong had an abusive relationship with Jorgenson before his July 2021 disappearance. Police said Starren and Jorgenson had also been in a relationship before his death.
Police have not determined where or when Xayavong was killed, Ernster said. Investigators searched Friday a house in which Jorgenson lived until last September.
Jorgenson’s attorney did not respond to the newspaper’s call on Friday.
Police Chief Axel Henry told a news conference on Friday that “cases like this are extremely rare, but they remind us all that monsters can be real.”
Starren was reported missing on May 1. Investigators found her body after Jorgenson barricaded himself in his apartment and started a fire when police tried to search the apartment on June 26. He was arrested after fighting with police officers. A review of his cellphone activity led police to the Woodbury storage unit, where Starren’s body was found.
According to court documents, prosecutors believe Jorgenson dismembered Starren’s body and carried his remains out of Maplewood’s apartment in duffel bags and a small suitcase.
Video from the building showed Starren running away from Jorgenson on April 21 before grabbing her and pushing her back inside. She was never seen leaving the apartment again.