STREET. PAUL, Minnesota – The body of a Minnesota woman who had been missing for two years was found in a storage unit, and St. Paul police said Friday her death has been linked to a man who was charged after that the dismembered body of another woman was found. found in a different storage unit in another Minneapolis suburb.
Joseph Jorgenson has yet to be charged in the death of Fanta Xayavong, but the 40-year-old was charged last week with second-degree murder in the death of Manijeh «Mani» Starren, 33, the The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Xayavong’s body was found Thursday in a Coon Rapids storage unit, while Starren’s body was found last month in a Woodbury storage unit.
St. Paul Police Sgt. Mike Ernster said Jorgenson is a «person of interest» in the death of 33-year-old Xayavong after investigators linked him to the Coon Rapids storage unit. Police are now trying to determine if Jorgenson could be related to other missing persons.
«It’s nothing short of horrible,» Ernster said.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension received a tip in May that Xayavong had been in an abusive relationship with Jorgenson before her disappearance in July 2021. Police said Starren and Jorgenson had also been in a relationship before her death.
Police have not determined where or when Xayavong was killed, Ernster said. Investigators searched a house Friday where Jorgenson used to live until last September.
Jorgenson’s attorney did not return a call from the newspaper on Friday.
Police Chief Axel Henry told a news conference Friday that «instances like this are extremely rare, but they remind us all that monsters can be real.»
Starren was reported missing on May 1. Investigators found her body after Jorgenson dug in in his apartment and a fire started when police tried to search the apartment on June 26. He was arrested after fighting with the officers. A review of his cell phone activity led police to the storage unit in Woodbury, where Starren’s body was found.
According to court documents, prosecutors believe Jorgenson dismembered Starren’s body and removed her remains from the Maplewood apartment in duffel bags and a small suitcase.
Video from the apartment building showed Starren running from Jorgenson on April 21 before he caught her and pushed her inside. She was not seen again leaving the apartment.