Alleged Indiana serial killer under 24-hour surveillance

GARY, Ind. -- The alleged serial killer who confessed to the deaths of at least seven women in northwest Indiana is under 24 hour surveillance and being kept in isolation away from the regular jail population, officials said.

Darren Deon Vann was medically cleared and transferred to Lake County Jail in Crown Point. He is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday morning.

Vann was charged in the murder of Afrikka Hardy, 19, who was found strangled in a Hammond motel room Friday night. The discovery of her body led to Vann's arrest and confession in six other murders, police said.

Following his arrest, Vann took police to six other crime scenes, mostly abandoned homes in Gary, where he said he had dumped the bodies.

"He was very specific on the locations, very specific about what transpired at each location and how they were concealed," Gary Police Det. Cpl. Edward Gonzalez said.

On Tuesday, Gary Police Department detectives used cadaver dogs to search the abandoned homes. Investigators also searched Vann's home overnight. They say there could be more victims.

"We're getting calls from all over, all over the country from relatives of missing individuals wanting information," said Lake County Sheriff John Buncich.

Three of the six bodies have been identified as Anith Jones, 35; Teaira Batey, 28; and Christine Williams. The other three bodies remain Jane Does. Charges are pending the full autopsy results in those six cases.

All seven women found appear to have been killed in the last seven months. According to statements from Vann, he may have started killing up to 20 years ago.