BEL AIR, Md. -- After two women were found dead this month in remote areas of Harford County, police there are seeking information on nine women and girls who have been reported missing in the county since 2003, authorities said.

Sheriff's deputies said they particularly interested in locating Jennifer Blankenship, 25, of Aberdeen, who was reported missing June 4, two days after the first body was found, a spokesman said.

"Miss Blankenship was last seen on or around June 4. That is within 48 hours of when our first deceased person was discovered," said the public information officer for the Harford County Sheriff's Office, Bob Thomas said.

The body of Sheila Ann Turner, 42, of Aberdeen was found by railroad workers in a remote field in Perryman on June 2. She had been reported missing May 26.

On June 16, a body found by state troopers along train tracks about six miles away in Havre de Grace was identified as Lillian Abramowicz Phelps, 43, of Elkton. She was last seen May 30.

The women's deaths are being investigated as homicides, Thomas said, although the cause of their deaths had not been determined. Forensic examinations, which Thomas said were difficult because the bodies were decomposed, were continuing.

"At this point in time we don't know if they knew one another or not, but both were found in about a 3- to 4- mile area from one another," Thomas said.

Police said the two women were involved in prostitution, The (Baltimore) Sun reported this week, although neither had ever been charged with prostitution, and Phelps' mother denied to The Sun that her daughter was involved in the sex industry.

Also this week, a Kingsville man was arrested in the attacks on two women who were left for dead along train tracks near Aberdeen. Charles Eugene Burns, 34, is alleged to have picked up two women in incidents three weeks apart near Aberdeen last month and taken them to secluded locations near train tracks, police said, where he allegedly choked one until she lost consciousness, and the other until blood vessels in her eyes burst. Both victims, who police said were a woman and her daughter working as prostitutes, survived.

Burns has been charged with assault and attempted first-degree murder and is being held without bond.

Thomas said, however, "We have nothing at this point that would clearly link the nine missing women to the person already in custody."

Blankenship, who went missing June 4, is a known prostitute and frequented the Aberdeen area in Harford County, Thomas said. None of the other missing women are believed to be involved in prostitution, Thomas said.

"We're pursuing all avenues, looking into all potential leads" to find the missing women, Thomas said, adding that it is not certain that foul play is involved in their disappearances.

Besides Blankenship, the missing women are:

• Laurie Dee Ambrose, 41, of Terra Alta, W.Va., last seen in Joppa on Jan. 13.
• Cynthia Ann Briggs, 58, of Baltimore, last seen in Darlington on Sept. 17, 2004.
• Mandy Marie Fox, 14, of Edgewood, last seen at her home on April 27.
• Monica Patricia Gonsalves, 24, of Edgewood, last seen in Edgewood on April 13.
• Ashley Nicole Hess, 17, of Churchville, last seen at her home on May 18.
• Erica Noel Lautz, 25, of Bel Air, last seen at home on June 14.
• Estefania Sarah Pena, 17, of Edgewood, last seen at her home on June 2.
• Erika Nicole Shaffner, 17, of Darlington, last seen in Darlington on Sept. 25, 2003.

Thomas said anyone with information about these women should call the sheriff's office criminal investigation division.