Authorities suspect woman was murdered in Rochester

A former Police officer from a suburb of Milwaukee has been arrested in connection with the murders of two women, and investigators suspect one of the victims was killed in Rochester.

52-year-old Steven Zelich of West Allis, Wisconsin was taken into custody on Wednesday as a suspect in the deaths of the women, whose bodies were found in suitcases in a ditch along a road in Geneva, Wisconsin earlier this month.

One of the victims has been identified as 37-year-old Laura Simonson. The Farmington woman was reported missing last fall and investigators determined she was last seen alive in Rochester in November 2nd.

Wisconsin authorities have yet to identify the second victim.  She is described as possibly Caucasian, between the ages of 15 to 35, height 5’2” to 5’4”, weight 120 – 140 pounds with long, straight dark brown or black hair.  She has a pronounced overbite and crooked lower teeth, two piercings in each ear, and a quarter sized heart tattoo on the lower left abdomen/pelvic area.

Rochester Police say additional information could be released on Thursday.