Portland man charged in 2 killings, police seek help finding other victims

Portland Police and Multnomah County prosecutors believe they have solved at least two murders, and they are seeking the public’s help in case there are more victims.

The Multnomah County District attorney announced Wednesday that they have indicted Christopher Lovrien, 53, on charges connected to the killings of Mark Dribin and Kenneth Griffin.

Dribin, a 42-year-old United Airlines cargo worker at Portland International Airport, called his bosses on July 2, 1999, to request the night off to deal with what he described as a personal emergency. That was the last time friends and family heard from him.

Detectives noted blood on the walls and numerous items missing from Dribin’s house, including his vehicle, which was recovered two weeks later in an area investigators say Dribin did not frequent. They also found someone else’s genetic material in Dribin’s home and car.

Police reopened the case two years ago. They arrested Lovrien last year after a private forensics lab matched the DNA from Dribin’s case to material submitted to a public genealogy website.

While searching Lovrien’s Southeast Portland home in May 2020, investigators say they found the remains of Kenneth Griffin, who was last seen alive three months earlier.

They do not believe Lovrien knew either Griffin or Dribin.

A grand jury has indicted Lovrien on charges of second-degree murder in each case and one count of abusing a corpse in Griffin’s death. He is also charged with six counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Investigators who searched Lovrien’s property found two .9mm caliber pistols, a .40 caliber pistol, a .357 caliber revolver and two .223 caliber rifles.

Police believe there could be more victims. They want to talk to anyone with information about people who may have been living under the Interstate 205 bridge in southeast Portland between the summer of 2019 and May 2020 and is now missing.