Links to Nov. deaths sought in 3d strangling

A 22-year-old woman who was found Friday night in a Juniata Park apartment had been strangled, and police say they are investigating whether the slaying is connected to two recent strangulations in neighboring Kensington.

A man who lives in an apartment on the 3800 block of Glendale Street off Erie Avenue discovered the body around 8 p.m. Friday, and the medical examiner ruled Saturday that the woman had been strangled.

The woman's identity wasn't released, and investigators had not established a connection to the other strangulations, said Lt. Ray Evers, a police spokesman.

The apartment is about two miles from one of the two spots in Kensington where the bodies of strangled women were found last month. Police said they had found identical DNA evidence at the scenes of those two killings.

The body of Elaine Goldberg, a 21-year-old nursing student at Gwynedd-Mercy College, was found Nov. 3 in a lot on the 2800 block of Ruth Street.

The body of Nicole Piacentini, 35, was discovered Nov. 13 less than a mile away, behind a building on the 1900 block of East Cumberland Street.

Both bodies were found partially clothed. Police said the women had been sexually assaulted and strangled.