The number of bodies found at the Cleveland home of Anthony Sowell, a convicted rapist, rose last night to ten.

Police said that they removed four more bodies in addition to the six decomposing corpses found last week. The latest gruesome discoveries came as investigators dug up the back garden at the house.

Four of the bodies were found in the back yard, while six others were discovered elsewhere on the property including on an upstairs floor, inside a crawl space, and in the basement of the house. Authorities said that a skull wrapped in a paper bag in a bucket could be an eleventh victim.

For years, neighbours assumed that the rotting smell in the area came from a brick building where workers churned out sausage and cheese. The owners of Ray’s Sausage even replaced their sewer line and grease traps because of the odour.

A spokesman for the coroner said that the bodies “could have been there anywhere from weeks to months to years”.

Sowell, 50, served 15 years for rape and was released in 2005. As a registered sex offender, he was under the supervision of the local sheriffs. Officers would drop by to the check up on him but were not allowed to enter his house. He was due to appear in court today to face five counts of aggravated murder, along with charges of rape, felonious assault and kidnapping.

Sowell was a scrap metal dealer and beggar well-known to residents of the inner city district. He was arrested last weekend for rape after his alleged victim said he had invited her in for a drink, then became enraged and attacked her.

The authorities then searched the fetid property he owned with a backhoe, jackhammers, wall saws, and cadaver dogs. They plan to take the three-story house apart with the help of the fire brigade who will search inside the walls of the house tomorrow. The authorities also plan to search vacant homes within a few miles of the house.

Police Chief Michael McGrath said: “I would like to believe there is nothing else there, but we won't know until we search everything.”

Police were trying to match the victims' DNA to that of missing women. However, Mr McGrath said that in some cases, no missing person's report was made.

The Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson assured worried local families that they would be kept informed of any developments. “I can imagine how families feel who have reported a missing person, and anxiety that they are going through,” Mr Jackson said. “We want to assure them as soon as we know something they will be the first to know.”

Last night a crowd of about 100 people milled about near the home as news of the bodies being found went viral. A short while later, about 50 people joined hands and put their arms around each other in the middle of the street and prayed aloud.

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