that's when they found ms. hardynd very quickly then police were able to recover the phone, get a phone number off of it and trace mr. vann to an address in gary. once they picked him up, he began to tell them these horrible stories and led them to the bodies. >> we're told not all the victims have even been identified yet by the coroner's office in indiana. what do we know about the victims right now, the ones that have been identified? >> reporter: it's tough. from what we understand, these were people who were living on the margins of society. they were not -- these were not wealthy people or very established people. it does sound that some, if not all of them, were advertising on backpage.com, sort of a craigslist, catch-all. but there is a lot of prostitution done through backpage.com. and it is possible that some of these individuals came into -- crossed him through that way. we did speak to the ex-boyfriend of africa hardy who said that this was an incredibly kind woman. he's in aurora, colorado. she was tryin

know out there on the yard and a lot of my parents when i talk to talk to the parents they say oh, ms. hardy i can't do it i said, yes you can i educated two children so make it a little bit easier on us, please sign the contract but make it decent and the other thing don't live in the city i had to move outside the city in richmond california i needed to put my kids through college it would be easier i come across the bridge everyday the traffic has kwauptd so some of you probably moved with me do what you can do to help us out. >> thank you. next speaker, please i'd like to i want to take a moment you have two minutes please. hi, i'm leslie a highly quality educator with 17 years in the district the educational testing they a.d. minor every school a 6 digit identification number the school i teach this is their identification number it is a really spell none does anyone know why it's my birthday of all the schools and all the universities this of digits identification number is the school i teach i was destined to teach as john o'connell i taught for 16 years and love teaching there and te

when she stopped hearing from her, she sent a male friend to the hotel and they found ms. hardy there. because of the telephone she had been using, they got a telephone number and were able to track him to gary and everything began to unravel. frightening story in that hotel room. >> these women, seven thus far, but to hear police say it today, this could go back to 1994, 1995. there could be others. >> and they are already saying not only that but there could be other victims surfacing. we might think even now. it is all hands on deck in these two communities. i asked them if they were out looking for other abandoned structures and trying to comb these two communities. not necessarily the case. in terms of hammond, no. all of their officers are working currently on this particular case. in terms of gary, the mayor of gary said we're looking to expedite the demolition of a lot of these structures. here's what's amazing. he's not lawyered up. he's been talk iing and showing law enforcements where these bodies are. >> yes in some cases showing them where the location is. >> perhap

. >> the female facilitator attempted to contact ms. hardyspicious text responses that she believed to be from the suspect while he was still inside the motel room. >> reporter: 19 years old found signs of a struggle. a broken fingernail on the floor. the beds moved away from the wall. next to the toilets, a pillow with blood on it. africa hardy's mother in shock. >> she was my rock. she was my best friend. she was my everything. when i didn't have anything, she was all i had. >> hardy's death, those few text messages led police to a phone number for van and surveillance video of the car he was driving. both led them to his home in neighboring gary, indiana. >> mr. van told the police officers at the scene that he had messed up by committing the crime in hammond and was surprised at how quickly he was located after the incident. >> reporter: van, say police, admitted killing africa hardy, whose escort name was octavia. he told police when the sex got rough she fought him and he strangled her, first with his hands, then an extension cord. he s