When Hotch walked into the conference room, Rossi was already standing at the front of the room, with Morgan, Reid, JJ, and Blake seated around the table. Garcia was busily supervising, as they all worked to call up a case file she had sent them on their tablets.
"Everyone here?" Hotch looked around and then took a seat. "Okay, Dave, why don't you fill us in?"
Garcia joined Rossi at the front of the room as he began his introduction. "This morning I received a call from the Iowa State Police," he told the team. "They have a series of murders that is puzzling them and they are hoping we can help."
Garcia pushed her clicker and several pictures appeared on the flat screen; the largest of which was a girl's high school graduation picture.
"Thank you, Garcia," Rossi commented.
"Approximately 10 years ago the body of Missy Logan was discovered in a field just outside the town of Woodbine, Iowa," he continued. "She had been stabbed once through the heart with what the coroner determined must have been a screwdriver. Post-mortem wounds around her waist area formed a distinctive pattern. She had no defensive wounds of any kind."
"In order for someone to get that close to her, the unsub must have been someone she knew and trusted," Reid began the analysis.
"No defensive wounds indicates that the attack was sudden and unexpected," JJ continued. "Does anyone know what the pattern of wounds around her waist means? Is it indicative of anything she was involved in?" She squinted at the pictures on her tablet.
"No meaning was every determined for the wounds," Rossi told her. "This particular murder fell within the jurisdiction of the Iowa State Police and they were never able to come up with a viable suspect or a reason for the murder."
"Any sexual component? Boyfriend?" Blake asked.
"No indications of sexual assault," Rossi told her. "Missy was a 20 year old female who had graduated two years earlier from the local high school. She was planning to marry within a year. Her fiancé had an airtight alibi. No old boyfriends in the picture."
"There is more?" Morgan took it for granted.
"Of course," Rossi assured him. "Garcia?"
Several more pictures appeared on the flat screen. These included what was obviously the senior picture of another teenaged girl, along with crime scene photos which included her body.
"Approximately five years later, the body of Amy Richardson was discovered in a field close to the local consolidated middle school/high school," Rossi told the team. "This school services several small towns located in the area. Amy was an 18 year old senior at the high school. Again, the murder weapon appeared to be a screwdriver and death was caused by one wound directly to the heart. There was an identical pattern of post-mortem wounds around the waist. The attack seems to have come from the front and again there were no defensive wounds. This murder fell within the jurisdiction of the county sheriff. No viable suspects were ever identified."
Blake looked up from studying her tablet. "Again – Sexual assault? Boyfriend?" she asked.
"No sexual component to the murder," Rossi told her. "And, if she did have a boyfriend, he was never located."
"Both bodies appear to have been left in highly visible places," Morgan observed. "This unsub was confident of not being caught."
"It's just lucky that the State Police and the County Sheriff's Department were open to sharing information," Hotch observed. "Otherwise, these two murders may never have been connected."
Garcia put up a third set of pictures. Again, the array featured a senior class picture of a young woman, along with crime scene photos.
"This is Dawn Sheldon," Rossi told the group. "She was a 19 year old high school senior. Her body was found two days ago, and the MO matches the two previous cases. This time, the body was found lying a short distance from a county road near her home. The mail carrier spotted it during her morning rounds. Technically, this falls within the jurisdiction of the county sheriff."
"It seems that the county sheriff and the state police have gotten together and determined that we are better equipped to handle these murders than either of their departments," Hotch announced, reading off his cell phone screen. "I just received a formal request from them, which has been approved by the higher-ups. Arrangements are being made for us to have space in the local community center to set up and run our investigation from there. Wheels up in 30 everyone."