WOONSOCKET, R.I. (AP) – Three Woonsocket women who have gone missing over the past year and a half have been murdered, according to police.

Until last week, the police did not know of a relationship between the women, but said a break in the case led to an arrest Friday of a man on unrelated charges, The Providence Journal reported Sunday.

The man, a Woonsocket native in his 30s whom police refused to identify, remains in custody and will be arraigned Monday. Police said he has no criminal record.

He is the common thread in the investigation, said Capt. Luke Gallant, spokesman for the Woonsocket Police Department.

“This case is now considered a homicide investigation,” Gallant said.

The police would not name the victims, but said all three had been involved in prostitution or drug use. They said their names have appeared in recent published reports.

On July 9, the Woonsocket Call reported that Stacie Goulet, 25, disappeared from World War II Veterans Memorial Park after the fireworks display on July 3. The article noted that at least two other women had disappeared in the city in the last 18 months.

Christine C. Dumont, 42, disappeared on April 23, and Audrey L. Harris, 35, vanished on Feb. 9, 2003, according to the article.

Police searched a home on Cato Street on Saturday.

Gallant characterized the property as “under the control of the man in question,” but declined to say whether the man actually lived there.

Investigators first gathered at the house Friday and had been there since, “searching for evidence,” Gallant said.

The search came a day after an undercover sting, when Woonsocket Police arrested 18 area men for soliciting prostitutes.

However, police stopped short of saying there was any connection between the Thursday night arrests and the homicide investigation.

AP-ES-07-18-04 1127EDT