It’s just about an hour and a half away by car — the southern Ohio city where residents want answers as to the whereabouts of missing young women.

In just more than a year, six women from Chillicothe in Ross County have turned up missing or dead. Some residents fear a serial killer is on the loose. Some are scared to go out at night or let their daughters walk alone.

It’s a scary reality for the people of Chillicothe. No one has been arrested in connection with the disappearances and deaths and it’s not 100 percent certain they are even connected.

The women were known drug addicts and some had at times resorted to prostitution. Had their risky lifestyles finally caught up with them? National news outlets are speculating.

The police task force investigating is hoping someone will come forward to answer that question.

Lawrence County and Ross County are not that far apart from each other and they are not so different in terms of demographics. The heroin epidemic is strangling that community, just as it is this community.

It is time the people who know something step forward and give the loved ones of the missing some semblance of peace. Anyone with information is urged to contact 740-773-TIPS or CrimeStoppers.com.

And it is time for Lawrence County to get a hold of the drug problem plaguing this community so its residents don’t have to live in fear.