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Convicted killer told police of penchant for teen girls

MorgueFile
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MorgueFile

A Michigan inmate named as a suspect in a series of cold-case slayings told police a decade ago about his fondness for teenage girls.

Detroit television station WXYZ reports that Arthur Ream made that and other statements during a videotaped 2008 interview with police investigating the 1986 disappearance of 13-year-old Cindy Zarzycki.

Ream told officers he was "into" teenage girls. He later said Zarzycki's death had been driving him "crazy for 22 years."

After his conviction in her slaying, Ream led police to Zarzycki's remains in a wooded area in Macomb Township, northeast of Detroit.

Still, Ream denied killing the girl, saying she fell from an open elevator at his carpet warehouse.

The FBI is digging in a wooded area for up to seven other girls reported missing decades ago.

A former prosecutor who won a conviction against Ream says he would be surprised if the man is involved in other unsolved cases.

Steven Kaplan says that Arthur Ream's desire for attention would probably have led him to tell investigators about other victims. He also says the 13-year-old girl Ream was convicted of killing may have been killed because she fought back.

Kaplan is a former Macomb County assistant prosecutor. He's now the elected supervisor in Oakland County's West Bloomfield Township.

Cindy Zarzycki disappeared in 1986, and the investigation was reopened years later. Two of Zarzycki's friends said she was to meet with Ream at a Dairy Queen.

After his 2008 murder conviction, Ream led police to Cindy's buried remains in a wooded area. Authorities are now digging at the site for other remains.

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting.
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