Chilling never-before-scene sketches by the BTK serial killer have shown girls gagged with nooses around their neck.
Cops released the images as they step up the investigation into a slew of unsolved murders which they suspect Dennis Rader may have been involved in.
Rader, known as the BTK killer, ‘Bind, Torture, Kill’ went on a murderous two decade killing spree during 1970s to the 1990s, including two children in Kansas. He pleaded guilty to ten murders and is currently serving ten consecutive life sentences.
The images released by the Osage County Sheriff’s Office this week were first recovered after Rader’s arrest in February 2005, but in January, an investigation was opened into other evidence that was discovered by Wichita Police, including, writings and sketches that officials believe may be a possible link to several unsolved cases in the area.
Though there were hundreds of sketches recovered, Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden told CNN that a ‘few rare color images’ may depict more crimes committed by Rader.
The digital images obtained exclusively by the news outlet show eerie pictures of three different female victims gagged – some have a noose around their neck with their arms and legs bound. Each are wearing a short garment and have a terrifying expression on their faces.
Investigators believe all three victims are being held captive in a barn.
PICTURED: Prolific serial killer, Dennis Rader, also known as BTK, is pictured in 2005 after his arrest. Investigators are hoping to link to him to other unsolved crimes
One of the sketches shows a young blonde female in pigtails wearing a green top, with her arms and legs bound and sitting on what looks like a stack of hay. Officials noted the black piping in the picture that may be the walls of a barn
A second drawing shows a young dark-haired girl in a red top sitting on her knees as she is bound and gagged with a rope looped around her neck. The image shows brown horizontal lines in the background
The third sketch differs from the other two as it was drawn in black ink and the young victim is pictured in a different angle. The girl is seen lying flat face first and bound by her neck to a staircase post that appears to be in some type of barn loft space
The sheriff went through each of the images describing some critical details.
One of the sketches that shows a young blonde female in pig tails wearing a green top, with her arms and legs bound and sitting on what looks like a stack of hay. Officials noted the black piping in the picture that may be the walls of a barn.
The sheriff told CNN that if ‘you were moving livestock through there, that those bars would keep the livestock from hitting probably the tin or the wood on the outside of the barn so that if an animal hit it, you know, they wouldn’t go through and dent up the tin or knock the wood off the outside.’
The picture, officials said, ay be connected to a young woman who vanished in Southeast Kansas in 1991. The victim’s name has not be made public in connection with Rader at this time, as per the news outlet.
Virden added: ‘We know from things Dennis said on this exact photograph that it was a drawing he created from an actual barn,’ Virden told CNN.
A second drawing shows a young dark-haired girl in a red top sitting on her knees as she is bound and gagged with a noose looped around her neck. The image shows brown horizontal lines.
‘That would be a barn that had wood slats,’ the sheriff said.
‘You know, possibly a rounded post but in that area of the barn what would have possibly a wooden floor, you know and a lot of times in tack rooms inside of barns or in feed rooms or storage. They wouldn’t leave a dirt floor because they didn’t have livestock in that area.’
The third sketch differs from the other two as it was drawn in black ink and drawn in a different angle. The victim is seen lying flat and bound by her neck to a staircase post that appears to be in some type of barn loft space.
In that picture, the construction of the staircase was of particular interest to investigators.
Virden explained that ‘the support post appears to have a bracket and then a bolt that bolts through that to hold everything together.’
Pictured: mug shot of Dennis Rader taken on Feburary 27, 2005
Pictured: Cynthia Dawn Kinney, 16, who went missing on June 23, 1976. She was last seen in at the Osage Laudromat where she worked in Osage, Oklahoma. Investigators have interviewed Rader twice regarding the young woman’s disappearance
BTK’s ten victims: (L-R) January 15, 1974: #1 Julie Otero (aged 33) Strangled with a rope; #2 Joseph Otero (aged 38) Suffocated with a plastic bag; #3 Josephine Otero (aged 11) Hanged with a rope; #4 Joseph Otero, Jr. (aged 9) Suffocated with a plastic bag; April 4, 1974: #5 Kathryn Bright (aged 21) Stabbed 3 times in abdomen with a knife
(L-R) March 17, 1977: #6 Shirley Vian (aged 24) Strangled with a rope; December 8, 1977: #7 Nancy Fox (aged 25) Strangled with a belt; April 27, 1985: #8 Marine Hedge (aged 53) Strangled with hands; September 16, 1986: #9 Vicki Wegerle (aged 28) Strangled with Nylon stocking; January 19, 1991: #10 Dolores E. Davis (aged 62) Strangled with pantyhose
Last month, police raided the ex- Air Force sargeant’s former property in Park City, Kansas, over the disappearance of Cynthia ‘Cyndi’ Dawn Kinney, the 16-year-old cheerleader who was last seen in 1976.
Detectives said they hope the probe will help to tie him to more grisly unsolved cases. Osage County Undersheriff Gary Upton said his department is ‘continuing to follow leads in unsolved missing persons and murder cases possibly related to BTK.’
Rader’s adult daughter, Kerri Rawson, has been assisting police in trying to help investigators crack the case of the other unsolved crimes.
She told DailyMail.com on Monday that the new drawings that came out this weekend have been ‘evidenced and private to only law enforcement until this weekend.’
Kerri Rawson, the daughter of Dennis Rader, told DailyMail.com she has assisted in the investigations into her father
‘Osage County Sheriff’s Department were trying to find out were these actually women that were victims and murdered or what my dad fantasized about,’ she said.
She explained those drawings were released because they had certain details about barns that investigators are looking into.
The sketch of the young woman in the green top may be connected to a 1991 disappearance missing person from the Southeast area Kansas area.
‘We have an ID and a pretty strong lead on her, but we don’t have a location so they are trying to find a location,’ Rawson said.
The drawing shows the young victim behind some type of cattle or livestock that could be in a barn or outside that may provide some further clues, she said.
Rawson said the black-and-white sketch that she refers to as ‘barn girl number one’ and the drawing of the young woman in the red top continues to be a mystery.
She noted that it can be any missing person in the Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma or Arkansas areas between 1963 to to the time of her father’s 2005 arrest.
‘We have no idea right now on a timeline or missing person information on them that is why we released them on a missing person’s poster yesterday with a partner,’ she said. ‘Those are my theories.
Some of her colleagues have been using AI to try and enhance the drawings which, she said, have been very helpful.
Another interesting detail Rawson revealed that of the 200 sketches that her father drew only 10 of them had color.
‘We released these because it is rare that my dad would use color,’ she said.
‘The black and white sketch has very specific details. Someone might recognize it.’
Rawson said her father had taken some drafting classes at college and described it as certain skill set that is was very precise similar to line drawing. She remembered as a youngster seeing his drafting materials – a drafting board, ruler and tools- in his home.
‘I only ever saw him draft sketches of the garden or a second addition that we were going to put on the house but, then he got laid off, and we never did it.’
But, said she ‘doesn’t remember ever seeing him draw sketches of people’ or using color and colored markers. She said the images may have been a ‘secret hobby’ of his.
‘It would have been something he did privately, like when he was on the road or something,’ she said.
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