San Diego

Investigators have received 1,600 to 1,700 tips in the search for a man whom they believe has killed five women in Clairemont and University City, police officials said Wednesday.

Capt. Dick Toneck said he felt “more optimistic” about the most recent series of tips but declined to elaborate.

Police are searching for a dark-skinned man, 5-foot-7 to 5-foot-10, with a medium build and short, dark, curly hair. The man was seen running from the Clairemont apartment where Holly Suzanne Tarr was murdered April 3.

On Sept. 13, Pamela Gail Clark, 42, and her daughter Amber, 18, were stabbed to death inside their University City home on Honors Drive. Witnesses near the crime scene have told police they saw a man who matched the composite drawing of the suspect on the day before, and day of, the murders.

Toneck said that 27 detectives are now working the case full-time, with seven high-ranking officers of the San Diego Police Department supervising what he called “our highest priority.”