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LAPD Using Social Media To Help Identify Women Photographed By 'Grim Sleeper'

LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) — The Los Angeles Police Department launched a Facebook page and Twitter account Thursday to help identify dozens of women photographed by the "Grim Sleeper."

Around 180 photos of women, some dating back to the 1970s, were recovered from the home of serial murder suspect Lonnie Franklin, Jr.

Police are posting 42 photos Thursday to the LAPD Grim Sleeper Facebook page and Twitter account in hopes the public can help identify the remaining women.

Prosecutors charged the 59-year-old mechanic with 10 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder for the deaths of prostitutes and other women who were shot, strangled or both over several decades in Los Angeles.

Police linked Franklin in Nov. 2011 to as many as 18 murders in Southern California between 1985 to 1988 and 2002 to 2007.

He pleaded not guilty in the death penalty case.

The 14-year interval between the slayings led to the nickname "Grim Sleeper."

grim sleeper women
(credit: LAPD Grim Sleeper Facebook page)

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(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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