By Ben Fractenberg
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — The NYPD released more than 200 photographs of young women, children and some men believed to have been taken by convicted serial killer Rodney Alcala.
The photos were released on Tuesday in an effort to solve several "cold cases" — old cases that were never solved but remain on the books.
Alcala is still a suspect in at least two Manhattan murders, including the 1977 murder of Ellen Hover, daughter of the owner of Ciro's, a legendary Hollywood club. Hover’s body was discovered in a shallow Tarrytown grave in 1978.
Hover’s cousin, Sheila Weller, told The Daily News she is upset the photos weren’t made public sooner.
"They should be in every newspaper, on TV and on the Internet," Weller told the News prior to the release of the NYPD's photos. "It is rare that someone kept trophies of the women he came into contact with."
Another Manhattan victim, Cornelia Crilley, 23, was sexually assaulted and strangled to death in her Manhattan apartment in 1971. Forensic evidence left at the scene connected Alcala to the slaying.
Police think some of the pictures may have been taken while the convicted murderer lived in New York from 1970-71 and again in 1977. Alcala, who allegedly went by the name John Berger while living in New York, took the photographs around Greenwich Village while studying film in the city.
The serial killer, now 66, is on death row in California for killing four women and a 12-year-old girl.
Members of the public are asked to notify the NYPD’s Crimestoppers’ Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS if they recognize any of the individuals in the photographs.
