DEATHS NOT WORK OF SERIAL KILLER, INVESTIGATORS SAY

Special Police Task Force Points To 'High Risk' Activities Of Victims

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police task force, formed earlier this year to
investigate cases of six women slain or reported missing since last summer,
announced Wednesday it had solved one of the mysteries.

Jeffery James Blanton, 36, of Elderwood Lane in Charlotte, was charged in
the slaying of 39-year-old Regina Cheryl Thomas. Thomas' family reported her
missing Nov. 27.

Police found remains they believe are Thomas' on Tuesday in a wooded area in
west Charlotte. They declined Wednesday to specify the location, but said
officers were still on the scene collecting evidence. They're awaiting
autopsy results for a positive identification and cause of her death.

"Jeffery Blanton and Ms. Thomas had been engaged in a personal relationship
for some time before her death," Deputy Chief Deacon Jones said.

Jail records show Blanton uses the nickname "Fishhook" and worked as a pipe
layer.

Wednesday's announcement was the second to come from the task force
established in April. In May, police announced a murder charge in the death
of Tracy Denise Little, 34, whose body was found beside 3600 Primrose Ave.
near Charlotte/Douglas International Airport on March 3. Police charged a
58-year-old Charlotte man in that case.

Police formed the task force because the six deaths were related by three
factors: all the victims were relatively young women, all were African
American and all participated in "high risk" activities, sometimes including
prostitution or drug use.

But police said Wednesday they have not developed evidence that any of the
deaths could be connected to a serial killer.

Instead, they continue to focus on reducing the high-risk activities
associated with many homicides.

In an effort considered unique by some in law enforcement, investigators
have been working to refer at-risk people to services aimed at turning them
away from prostitution or drug and alcohol addiction.

So far, the task force has successfully referred three woman who were
willing to seek help for their addictions, Deputy Chief Larry Snider said.

Police have announced efforts to target three other factors related to
homicides: guns, illegal drugs and family violence.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg homicides so far this year total 67, two ahead of the
total for all of 1998. Earlier this month, police said guns were used in
three-fourths of this year's cases, and at least a third directly or
indirectly involved drugs, especially crack cocaine.

The task force continues to actively investigate the four remaining unsolved
cases:

Martha McIllwaine, 29. Children out fishing discovered her body in April
floating in a pond at Oakwood Drive in northeast Charlotte. Her body had
been weighted with a concrete block.

Ashante Deanne Steele, 24. A worker renovating a vacant house at 124 W. 30th
St. in north Charlotte discovered Steele's body in the basement in March.

Shirlynn Pamela Wise, 30. Officers found Wise's decomposed body last
September in a wooded lot on Wade E. Morgan Street in northeast Charlotte.

Shantelle S. Martin, 23. Martin was found dead in a parking lot adjacent to
a vacant business on Parkside Drive in west Charlotte in August 1998.

Anyone with information on any of the killings is asked to call Crime
Stoppers at 334-1600.

Reach Leigh Dyer at (704) 358-5058 or ldyer@charlotte.com.