Alicia Monique Alexander, Princess Berthomieux, and Janecia Peters All Victims of The Grim Sleeper? 2-25-10 With Possible Tip. Lonnie David Franklin?

$500,000 reward to catch a serial killer who has killed at least 10 women and a man? It is not enough. The family of A 1988 victim, Alicia Monique Alexander announced the reward. However one can not help but question whether the amount is sufficient. The killing has been over a two decade period and to date there are few clues. All the victims were found in or near South Los Angeles. Police suspect some of the women were prostitutes but that is not necessarily true. Ballistics show that seven of the women and one man were killed by the same handgun during the period of 1985 to 1988. The women all appear to have been sexually assaulted and most were dumped in the same alley.

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved the reward proposed by City Councilman Bernard Parks, a former police chief. The killing of Alicia Alexander demonstrates how fast life can change. Her father, Porter Alexander, last saw his daughter in September 1988 as the 18-year-old made a quick trip to the store. Four days later, police found her body in a nearby alley with a gunshot wound in the chest.

In March 2002, 14-year-old Princess Berthomieux was found beaten and strangled in an alley in the city of Inglewood. DNA linked her to the suspect in the earlier murders. In 2003 and in January 2007, victims bodies were found in a garbage bag. The January of 2007 victim was Janecia Peters, age 25. The time between the killings caused the LA Weekly newspaper to name the killer as the "Grim Sleeper." Police have DNA and one physical description of the killer (a victim survived a 1988 attack.) The killer's description (back in 1988) was that he is a black man in his 30s driving an orange Ford Pinto. (11 years have passed so do the math.) If there is any one out there that may fit this description, call CRIMESTOPPERS! Even if they are not guilty, their taste in transportation could definitely need improvement.

Update 3-19-09: For you youngsters, a photo was added to demonstrate a similar type of "Pinto."

Update 2-25-10: Sometimes tips can be helpful. Sometimes they are not. The following post is being added to this article. Law enforcement or reporters who read this publication can choose to investigate this matter by directly contacting the poster's email.:

"jf said...
hello my name is jf i have follow this guy trail for years. i believe this a serial killer. please help me to get the police attencion. im looking for the parents of this girl to support me with the police. i told already police where is the van used in one of the murder. about the pinto a friend of mine bougth the car from the killer. im presenting to los angeles police my report. i feel like they ignored me. please any body can contac me to my email juanfelix3320@hotmail.com "

Update 7-9-10: Lonnie David Franklin Jr., 57, has been apprehended and is being held without bail. His arraignment will be Aug. 9. Deputy Public Defender Regina A. Laughney will represent him. Franklin is suspected of killing seven women between 1985 and 1988. Slayings resumed in 2002, with a killing that year, another in 2003 and a third in 2007. He is of course to be presumed innocent unless otherwise proven in a court of law.