PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — In May of 2023, the body of a woman who had been reported missing was found in a pond in Oregon’s Clackamas County.

The woman was later identified as 22-year-old Ashley Real, whose death was determined to be “suspicious in nature.”

She went missing on March 27 of that year, and her remains were found less than two months later near Eagle Creek.

Ashley’s father, Jose Real Jimenez, told The Oregonian in July of 2023 that she had reported being strangulated by Jesse Calhoun in November of 2022.

The outlet wrote that Portland Police took Ashley’s initial report but later referred the case to the sheriff’s office as it was out of their jurisdiction.

The case never moved forward.

On May 26, 2026, Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez’s office held a press event. During the event, the DA announced pressing charges against Calhoun related to Ashley’s death.

Her mother, Maria Trinidad Jimenez, her father, Real Jimenez and sister, Masciell Real, were all present, flanked by the family members of four other women who have been killed.

Not enough evidence

By May 2023 and since February of that year, six women across various Oregon and Washington counties had gone missing and were subsequently found dead under suspicious circumstances.

Ashley Real, Bridget Leann (Ramsey) Webster, Charity Lynn Perry, Kristin Smith, Joanna Speaks, and an unidentified woman.

In February, 22-year-old Kristin Smith’s body was found in Multnomah County. The Gresham woman had been missing since November 2022. Detectives did not release much information surrounding Smith’s death.

The body of 32-year-old Joanna Speaks was found on April 8 in Ridgefield. Detectives with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office said at the time that the circumstances around her death were unusual.

Court documents state Speaks was killed 10 days after Charity Lynn Perry, on March 18.

Speaks was killed by blunt force trauma to the head; her death was the only one of the six in which the manner of death was revealed.

Speaks’ mother, CoLene Vargas, told KATU “Those details go through my mind every day” in 2024.

“We just don’t see a lot of homicides in this county, especially the kind like this, where it’s suspicious circumstances called in from an abandoned property,” Sgt. Chris Skidmore said at the time.

Later that month on April 24, the bodies of two women were found; 24-year-old Charity Lynn Perry and an unidentified woman.

The unidentified woman’s body was found at Interstate 205 and Southeast Flavel.

Perry was from Longview, Wash., and her body was found near Ainsworth State Park in a culvert East Historic Columbia River Highway and Northeast Tumalt Road. Court documents released later stated that she was killed on March 8.

Less than a week later, the body of Bridget Leann Ramsey Webster was found on Harmony Road near Mill Creek, on April 30. Indictment documents state she was killed on April 26.

On May 7, Ashley Real’s body was found on Southeast Judd Road.

Many of the women’s bodies were found in rural or wooded areas. The responding law enforcement agencies from different counties said at the time that they did not have enough evidence to link them.

Perry, Webster and Real were known to frequent the Portland metropolitan area.

“You look at, were these people similar, all females of certain ages, did they have similar contacts or locations or areas that they frequented?” said Skidmore.

The sgt. said at the time, “They can look at a bunch of factors and kind of try to start making some initial conclusions. I know they’ve been communicating, but I don’t think any of the teams are ready to say that ‘yes, we believe that these are linked’ yet.”

‘Person of interest’

On July 17, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said they had a “person of interest” in four of those women’s deaths; Kristin Smith, Charity Perry, Bridget Webster, and Ashley Real.

Although at that point, no one had been formally charged with the deaths of the women.

Investigators interviewed several people in connection with the women’s cases, and they “have identified at least one person of interest that is linked to all four of the decedents.”

At the time, the DA’s office did not believe there was danger to the community.

The person of interest, now 41-year-old Jesse Lee Calhoun, was booked in the Snake River Correctional Institution.

Described by the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office as a “prolific thief and career criminal” in 2019, Calhoun has a criminal history that dates back to when he was 18 years old.

He was serving a burglary sentence when he joined the inmates granted clemency by former Oregon Governor Kate Brown in 2021–roughly a year shy of his release date–for fighting wildfires.

Records indicate that Calhoun met the state corrections and Department of Forestry criteria for joining a fire crew and had a record of good conduct while incarcerated. Under his initial sentence, he would have been released in July 2022.

He was arrested in Clackamas County in June of 2023 on outstanding parole warrants.

While in jail, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek officially revoked his early-release clemency on July 3 at the request of the Multnomah County DA’s Office, and he was readmitted to corrections custody July 6.

When asked for comment by KATU at the time, former Governor Brown said she was “absolutely horrified for the victims, their families, and all those who have experienced these losses.”

Initial indictment

On May 17 of 2024, a grand jury indicted Calhoun for murders of three of the six missing women’s deaths.

Joanna Speaks. (Photo via the Clark County Sheriff’s Office)

Advertisement

He faced charges related to the deaths of Perry, 24, Webster, 31, and Speaks, 32.

Photo of Bridget Leann (Ramsey) Webster from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

At that point, he was charged with three counts of murder in the second degree and three counts of abuse of a corpse in the second degree.

Charity Lynn Perry. (Photo via Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office)

In a two-page indictment, prosecutors relied on the testimonies of 16 witnesses presented to a grand jury. The expert witnesses included detectives, medical examiners, and forensic scientists.

In June of 2024, Calhoun pleaded not guilty to the three murders.

‘She loved her three children with all of her being’

The day of the initial indictment, the loved ones of the three women held a barbecue fundraiser to memorialize them.

Perry’s mother, Diana Allen, said her daughter “had a smile that would light up the world.”

Smith’s mother, Melissa Smith, described her daughter as “the biggest animal lover ever,” and said she used to work at an animal hospital.

Speak’s sister, Ariel Hamb, remembered her as an amazing mother.

“She loved her three children with all of her being.”

“Losing them has been so insanely difficult, and has affected our life in every single way that you can imagine. From the time you wake up from the time you go to sleep,” said Hamby.

Hamby continued, “This can’t be for nothing. They couldn’t have died for nothing.”

Kristin Smith indictment

In August of 2025, a Multnomah County grand jury indicted Calhoun for the killing of a fourth woman, Kristin Smith.

Smith is believed to have been killed in November 2022 and was reported missing a month later. Her body was found in February of 2023.

Kristin Smith. (Photos via Gresham Police Department)

New charges included second-degree murder and second-degree abuse of a corpse.

At the time, Melissa Smith, Kristin’s mother, said she was “overwhelmed with emotion.”

“I’ve always stayed hopeful that I would get justice for Kristin,” she said at a news conference in 2025. “I thank every single person who didn’t give up on this case.”

He later pleaded not guilty to the murder of Smith.

Ashley Real indictment

On May 26 of 2026, the family of 22-year-old Ashley received the news they had been waiting for since her body was found in 2023.

A tearful Real family spoke about how difficult the past three years have been for them, but said they never lost hope that this day would come.

“They always told me it was going to be a hard case. I am a faithful believer in God, and I have asked him that I wanted this day to come, and I knew that it would come,” Maria said, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter.

SEE ALSO | Father mourns loss of daughter as person of interest named in four Oregon deaths

Ashley’s father said he has felt guilty for not being able to protect her from Calhoun.

“Ashley was the best person in the world, not because I am her father, but if you would have known her, you would have thought the same. I know she is watching me, even though sometimes I blame myself that I couldn’t protect her from what happened to her. But I am here for her, and I will be here for her as long as God allows me to,” he said in Spanish through an interpreter.

Top row, L to R: Ashley Real, Bridget Leann Ramsey and Kristin Smith. Bottom Row L to R: Joanna Sparks and Charity Lynn Perry. As of May 2026, Jesse Calhoun was charged with murdering all five women. (Photos via various law enforcement agencies)

For Ashley’s younger sister, Masciell, the news came one day before her 17th birthday. She said her sister was her best friend and took care of her.

“She would always make sure that I was fed. The last message that I have from her is, ‘Hey, there’s donuts on the table,’” she said.

Masciell said she and Ashley were fans of True Crime Series and said they would pray for the victims to get justice. She never thought Ashley would be one of them.

“Ever since watching True Crime with her, I’ve always wanted to be a detective. So listening to all the detectives work on her case, it really opens my eyes and inspires me more,” Masciell said.

The Real family thanked the family members of the other four victims for reaching out and providing support over the years. Jose pointed out that only they would truly understand how it felt to wait for justice.

“I’m just very grateful that you get your day today, and one day we will go to trial and we will get our justice,” said Michelle Smith, Kristin Smith’s mother, who had to wait two years for the indictment to come in her daughter’s case.

Calhoun’s trial was expected to take place in 2027. Vasquez said he hopes that will still be the case and that trial can take place without delays. Prosecutors did not rule out other potential cases and said they are “leaving no stone unturned.”