CHILLICOTHE (AP) — Law enforcement officials in rural southern Ohio are looking to state and federal investigators to assist in their search for answers after three women turned up dead and three others went missing within the past year, a number they call unusually high.

Officials say all six cases have happened since May of last year in Chillicothe, south of Columbus. Authorities say all six women appeared to have run in the same circles. One death was ruled a homicide, another a suicide and the third an overdose authorities called suspicious.

Local officials have asked the FBI, Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and several other departments to join a task force to assist in the investigations.

Authorities say the task force will hopefully provide additional resources needed to find answers in the cases.