A woman who has not yet been identified is believed to be the seventh victim of a serial killer who seems to be operating in the southern suburbs of the capital city of Costa Rica.

According to metro reporter Manuel Estrada of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the latest victim was found naked and bruised in an empty lot in the Sagrada Familia district, a working-class neighborhood that has been besieged by high crime rates for decades. A homeless man found the body yesterday; he rushed to notify police officers who were monitoring traffic at a nearby elementary school.

Forensic staff explained that their preliminary findings indicate that the victim was beaten and raped before being strangled. The woman was 30 to 40 years old, and she seems to have been homeless. According to the Diario Extra report, six other homeless women have been murdered in a similar fashion in the last few months. The modus operandi is virtually the same each time: the killer picks women who live in the streets, and they are subject to sexual assault before they are murdered and left naked in empty lots or condemned buildings.

The victims have been found in some of the roughest sectors of Alajuelita, Hatillo, Sagrada Familia, and San Sebastian. In April, a 27-year old woman known to be homeless and addicted to crack cocaine was found in an abandoned lot; she was also pregnant. Another destitute woman who lived in shanties that double as drug dens was dumped under a bridge in Hatillo a few months ago.

As can be expected, indigent women who spend their lives out in the streets of the southern suburbs of San Jose are very concerned about the possibility of a serial killer targeting them. There are many rumors flying around about the identity and possible motives of the killer; one alleged report indicates that the suspect is a male who used to spend time getting high in the slums before contracting the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from sexual relations with a homeless prostitute. The killer is said to travel in a white compact car and on foot, and the murders might be his way to seek revenge for his HIV infection.