Lonnie Franklin Jr. appears in Superior Court in L.A. last July. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

In July, when Los Angeles police arrested Lonnie Franklin Jr., the suspected "Grim Sleeper" serial killer, they scoured his South L.A. property for incriminating evidence.

Among the more troubling discoveries were nearly 1,000 still photographs and hundreds of hours of home video showing women, almost all of them partly or completely nude and striking sexually graphic poses.

Detectives on the case have spent the ensuing months trying to identify the women to determine whether they are alive and to learn how they came to be photographed by a man charged with sexually assaulting and killing 10 women.

The attempt has proved fruitless. So Thursday the LAPD plans to publish images of the roughly 160 women in the hope that they, family or acquaintances will recognize them and contact investigators.

"As a police department, we have an obligation to account for the welfare of these women," said veteran homicide Det. Dennis Kilcoyne, who headed the task force that hunted Franklin. "We're trying to fill in the life and times of Lonnie Franklin over the past 30 years, and talking to people is a big part of that. These are obviously women who had a conversation or two with this guy."

Franklin is accused of murdering seven young African American women between 1985 and 1988 in South L.A. Police say he resurfaced in the same area 14 years later, striking three more times between 2002 and 2007.

Authorities said they have linked Franklin, 58, to the killings through a combination of DNA and ballistics evidence. The former city sanitation worker and LAPD garage attendant has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He remains in custody.