The Windermere Police Department says it has identified and located several women in the photos they released Tuesday, but we still don't know why the police department is looking for the women.
"I'm surprised, to tell you the truth. They must have gotten an awful lot of tips, good information. I've seen it take much longer than that to try to identify people from pictures like that with very little information," said police practices consultant Chuck Drago, who is a former police chief in Central Florida.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the police have a pretty good idea of what occurred with at least some of those women pretty soon," Drago added.
Windermere Police Department Chief David A. Ogden sent the following e-mail to local media outlets Wednesday updating the investigation:
We want to thank everyone for assisting us in publishing the photos to the public. At this time we have identified several of the women in the photographs released yesterday. I have removed them from my Facebook site.
The WPD will not be identifying these women and we are moving forward with an open investigation.
Investigators released the photos and crime bulletins Tuesday and said they received several calls about them. The story went viral on social media, scoring thousands of shares on our Facebook pages.
Police said they still needed help identifying four of the women. However, investigators did reveal they may have identified some of the other women but they're still not sure.
Former FBI task force agent James Copenhaver said now it's time for detectives to begin following up.
"Absolutely in person. Especially a case like this. We don't know the true facts as to why they're looking for these women but obviously it's something that would demand the public's attention,"said Copenhaver.
Some photos show women on beds or laying flat on the floor. Police would not confirm if this was a sexual assault investigation.
“They are screen shots of a video that we’ve taken. Some of them are from ongoing cases, but again, we can’t elaborate any more than that,” Ogden said.
Right now there is only one open attempted rape case in Windermere that resulted in a search of a home on Bayshore Drive in April. According to the search warrant, detectives were tasked with recovering videos, cameras, computers, cell phones, drugs and alcohol. Detectives were seen taking several bags out of that home months ago, but no arrest has been made.
Police say the videos were taken sometime between 2006 and 2013.
"We are not sure if they are harmed. We're not sure if they're safe. We're not sure if they're even alive, to be honest with you," Ogden said Tuesday. "Some of our biggest fears are that these cases are so old, that maybe there's somebody out there that isn't alive any longer."
Detectives said they think the women are from the Central Florida area. Ogden said the department has been investigating the case since 2012.
In March 2015, Windermere police issued crime bulletins for two women they are trying to identify, and released them again Tuesday along with new ones.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Windermere police Detective John Allen at (407) 909-5306.