Updated

Authorities in the nation's capital are investigating whether a serial killer may be responsible for the deaths of three women who disappeared months apart in 2006 -- and whose remains were identified after being found buried near an apartment building Wednesday.

Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham announced the IDs during a news conference, naming the three women as 48-year-old Jewel King, who vanished in April 2006; 41-year-old Verdell Jefferson, who was reported missing in August 2006; and 43-year-old Dorothy Botts, who was last seen on Christmas Day of that year.

In response to a question from FOX5, Newsham said detectives weren't ruling out any possible motives -- including that the trio may have been victims of a serial killer.

"We would always consider that to be a potential in this case but at this point, we don't even know," Newsham said.

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These photos show remains that were found in two separate locations in southeast Washington D.C. this past April. ( (Metropolitan Police Department)

King and Jefferson died of gunshot wounds and were buried close together, officials said. The two were likely killed in "one suspected circumstance," because there was not enough dirt discovered between their bodies to indicate they were interred at separate times.

"We believe they were at least put in there at the same time, and are probably associated," he said.

Jefferson, who lived on the same block where her body was found, died of blunt force trauma, police said. Her body was found in a crawlspace at 113 Wayne Place SE, while the bodies of King and Jefferson were found buried in a shallow grave at an adjacent property, 111 Wayne Place SE..

REMAINS FOUND IN SHALLOW GRAVE AT DC APARTMENT BUILDING ID'D AS WOMEN WHO VANISHED IN 2006

The three women were mothers, and authorities are trying to find any other links between them, besides that they lived in "close proximity" to where their remains were eventually found. Police identified the victims by using DNA to determine they were between the ages of 30 and 60, and then checking missing persons reports to collect DNA samples from potential family members.

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Two sets of remains were discovered in a shallow grave next to an apartment building in Southeast D.C. in April. (FOX5)

"Whenever you have a family member who goes missing, I am sure, regardless of how much time has passed, you are always hopeful that they will return,"  Newsham said. "I am certain that this news is devastating to these families."

A relative of Verdell Jefferson who spoke to FOX5 on the condition she not be identified said the family is upset her remains were found so close to her home after a fruitless 12-year search, and said she felt police should have done more. She did not know how Jefferson may have known the other women.

“I think D.C. police failed her,” the relative told FOX5. “They looked into her past of drug usage, prostitution and those things and they just swept it under the rug."

Police are hoping the identification of the remains helps "jog people's memories" and someone will remember something suspicious from the Southeast D.C. neighborhood in 2006. Officials are offering $25,000 for information that leads to an arrest in connection with the killings, and are asking anyone with information to call the Metropolitan Police Department at 202-727-9099.