WASHINGTON, USA - Up to six bodies, many of them badly decomposed, were found in the Cleveland, Ohio home of a convicted rapist arrested Saturday, police said.

Police chief Michael McGrath said there were "three bodies located" at the home of Anthony Sowell, 50, and the remains of three more victims were believed to have been discovered. Authorities were awaiting confirmation from the coroner.

Released in 2005 after spending years in prison for a 1989 rape, Sowell was arrested in his Cleveland neighborhood Saturday after a local resident recognized him and notified police.

The first two bodies, both females, were found Thursday when a SWAT team entered the house with a search warrant, McGrath told reporters in a briefing aired by local media. A third body was also discovered.

"We also have removed from the scene what we believe to be three additional bodies, but that has not yet been confirmed from the coroner's office," he said.

Some of the bodies may have been in the home up to six months, he said, citing the coroner who was conducting the autopsies.

As authorities worked to establish the victims' identities, Cleveland police initiated a search of missing person records from June 2005, when Sowell was released after serving a 15-year prison term for rape.

Department Lieutenant Thomas Stacho said police searched Sowell's home because he was named as a suspect in a rape and assault case.

"It was such a disgusting sight" that homicide detectives discouraged Stacho from going into the house, he told CNN.

"I can tell you I stood outside the home for about an hour yesterday, and the stench from inside was overwhelming."

The United States has experienced several gruesome multiple murders in recent months, including a case in September in which a Florida man was charged with slaying his wife and five small children.

In September, police arrested an alleged serial killer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin whose DNA was found on nine women murdered over a 21-year period, eight of them prostitutes.