ajksmom
08-17-2002, 02:22 PM
THIS 9 YEAR OLD CHILD HAS BEEN MISSING SINCE WED NIGHT/THURSDAY MORNING AFTER SOMEONE APPARENTLY BROKE IN KILLED HER PARENTS AND ABDUCTED HER:
OAK LEVEL, VIRGINIA - The FBI joined a national hunt for Jennifer Renee Short on Friday as police ended a second day of unsuccessful searching in northern Henry County and fearful neighbors of the missing 9-year-old's slain parents locked their doors and gates.
By Friday afternoon, authorities had no leads on the girl's whereabouts and no suspects in the killings of her parents, Michael Wayne Short, 50, and his wife, Mary Hall Short, 36.
While anguished family and friends waited for word on the missing girl, the Henry County Sheriff's Office fielded tips throughout the day. Authorities scaled back local search efforts and suggested that they believed the little girl could have been spirited far away. Sheriff's Capt. Kimmy Nester continued to plead on television for Jennifer's safe return.
"This child could be a mile from here, she could be 1,000 miles from her by now," said Henry County Sheriff Frank Cassell. Both her parents were killed with a single gunshot to the head.
A few new details emerged Friday about the mysterious killings of the husband and wife.
Cassell said the killings and abduction were "not a random thing" and that he feels certain the perpetrator "was an acquaintance of somebody," such as a relative, employee or former employee of the dead couple.
The killings were discovered by Christopher Thompson, 25, who worked in Michael Short's mobile home moving business. He found Short's naked body on a couch in the carport Thursday morning and summoned police. Sheriff's investigators said Thompson is not a suspect, but a "cooperating witness."
Jennifer appeared to have been abducted by force from her bedroom, Nester said.
Much of the new information concerns the discovery of the Shorts' bodies Thursday morning. That information came from Christopher Thompson's landlady, Loraine St. Clair, and his sister, Tammy Reeves of Martinsville.
Thompson lived in a motel owned by St. Clair that is adjacent to Short's home.
According to St. Clair, Thompson spent Wednesday evening at the Short's home on northbound U.S. 220, just south of the Franklin County border. He helped Michael Short remove equipment from his old diesel truck, St. Clair said. Thompson told St. Clair that he spoke to Mary Short and saw Jennifer playing with her pet kitten. He returned to his motel room about 12:30 a.m., showered and went to bed, she said.
Thompson drove his pickup truck into the Shorts' driveway about 9:30 a.m. Thursday, expecting to drive his boss to Christiansburg to buy a new truck, St. Clair said. Thompson honked the horn and yelled. Then, noticing the door to the porch was open, he got out and looked inside. He saw Michael Short lying naked on the couch and saw blood. He used a cellphone to call police, St. Clair said.
Henry County investigators arrived soon afterward and found Mary Short's body in her bed. Jennifer Short was missing.
http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/photos/murder0816.jpg
http://media.mgbg.com/wsls/photos/jennifershort.jpg
OAK LEVEL, VIRGINIA - The FBI joined a national hunt for Jennifer Renee Short on Friday as police ended a second day of unsuccessful searching in northern Henry County and fearful neighbors of the missing 9-year-old's slain parents locked their doors and gates.
By Friday afternoon, authorities had no leads on the girl's whereabouts and no suspects in the killings of her parents, Michael Wayne Short, 50, and his wife, Mary Hall Short, 36.
While anguished family and friends waited for word on the missing girl, the Henry County Sheriff's Office fielded tips throughout the day. Authorities scaled back local search efforts and suggested that they believed the little girl could have been spirited far away. Sheriff's Capt. Kimmy Nester continued to plead on television for Jennifer's safe return.
"This child could be a mile from here, she could be 1,000 miles from her by now," said Henry County Sheriff Frank Cassell. Both her parents were killed with a single gunshot to the head.
A few new details emerged Friday about the mysterious killings of the husband and wife.
Cassell said the killings and abduction were "not a random thing" and that he feels certain the perpetrator "was an acquaintance of somebody," such as a relative, employee or former employee of the dead couple.
The killings were discovered by Christopher Thompson, 25, who worked in Michael Short's mobile home moving business. He found Short's naked body on a couch in the carport Thursday morning and summoned police. Sheriff's investigators said Thompson is not a suspect, but a "cooperating witness."
Jennifer appeared to have been abducted by force from her bedroom, Nester said.
Much of the new information concerns the discovery of the Shorts' bodies Thursday morning. That information came from Christopher Thompson's landlady, Loraine St. Clair, and his sister, Tammy Reeves of Martinsville.
Thompson lived in a motel owned by St. Clair that is adjacent to Short's home.
According to St. Clair, Thompson spent Wednesday evening at the Short's home on northbound U.S. 220, just south of the Franklin County border. He helped Michael Short remove equipment from his old diesel truck, St. Clair said. Thompson told St. Clair that he spoke to Mary Short and saw Jennifer playing with her pet kitten. He returned to his motel room about 12:30 a.m., showered and went to bed, she said.
Thompson drove his pickup truck into the Shorts' driveway about 9:30 a.m. Thursday, expecting to drive his boss to Christiansburg to buy a new truck, St. Clair said. Thompson honked the horn and yelled. Then, noticing the door to the porch was open, he got out and looked inside. He saw Michael Short lying naked on the couch and saw blood. He used a cellphone to call police, St. Clair said.
Henry County investigators arrived soon afterward and found Mary Short's body in her bed. Jennifer Short was missing.
http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/photos/murder0816.jpg
http://media.mgbg.com/wsls/photos/jennifershort.jpg