Guangdong police have arrested two suspects in connection with murders of 12 women who disappeared from a Shenzhen employment agency in recent months.

Police said the two suspects, who were identified as Ma Yong (male) and Duan Zhiqun (female), had admitted murdering the 12 jobseekers in Buji Township in Longgang District.

Police had received a number of reports of women having disappeared from an employment agency.

Investigations led to the arrest of Ma Yong, 40, from Hunan Province on Oct. 12 and Duan Zhiqun, 20, from Sichuan Province on Oct. 23.

Police later found ID cards and clothes of the missing women in a house rented by the two suspects. Police allege the pair admitted killing the 12 women.

Based on their confessions, police recovered the remains of the women. DNA confirmed their identities.

According to police, Ma and Duan began their killing spree May 26 this year. They lured the women away from the employment agency by pretending to be recruiting representatives of local companies. They then murdered them and stole their mobile phones and other personal belongings.

The employment agency has been closed and the general manager was detained.

(Shenzhen Daily November 12, 2003)