Posted on 08/15/2002 1:07:45 PM PDT by AppyPappy
Henry County couple slain; child missing
By MIKE ALLEN
Jennifer Renee Short is missing. The Henry County Sheriff's Office was asking anyone who may have seen the girl to call (276) 638-8751. Crimestoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for substantial information about the crime. BASSETT -- A Henry County couple was found shot to death in their home this morning and sheriff's deputies are searching across Henry and Franklin counties for their 9-year-old daughter whom investigators believe was abducted. The dead couple were identified as Michael Wayne Short, 50, and Mary Hall Short, 36. Their daughter, Jennifer Renee Short, was missing. The Shorts lived in a house on U.S. 220 about 100 yards south of the Franklin County line.
A co-worker who dropped by the house found Michael Short dead on an couch in an enclosed carport about 9:30 this morning and called authorities, said Henry County Sheriff's Capt. Kimmy Nester.
Deputies found Mary Short inside, dead in a bedroom. Both had been shot once in the head, and investigators said evidence on the scene seemed to rule out a murder-suicide.
There was no sign of the girl this morning, although Nester said the family had been together last night. Authorities initially thought she may have escaped the house and run away during the shootings. But when she hadn't turned up by early afternoon, the Henry County Sheriff's Office began looking for her on the presumption that she had been abducted, Nester said. The sheriff's office called out helicopters this afternoon to aid in the search.
Latest picture, no news
The killings were discovered about 9:30 a.m., when a male acquaintance of the Shorts stopped by the house and found Michael Short's body on a couch in an enclosed carport, Nester said. The friend summoned police, who soon found Mary Short's body on the bed in her bedroom. Both were killed by single gunshot wounds to the head, Nester said.
Investigators believe the killings unfolded in a "quick, surprise scenario" by someone who knew the family and was familiar with the home, Nester said. But he declined say what led detectives to those conclusions, or to release details about the weapon used or a possible motive.
The same man who called police told them he had visited around midnight Wednesday, and at that time the family was together and well. Nester declined to identify the man, who was held for questioning at the Henry County Sheriff's Office on Thursday.
hmmmmmmmmmmmmm
the one who was there last night also found them this morning....interesting don't you think
May God watch over and protect this child - and help her heal from this trauma.
Which has no bearing on the fact that -
Every liberal is a pedophile.
This is a very strange story indeed and my heart breaks for yet another little girl. She is so cute. She reminds me of Virginia in the Christmas movie Prancer.
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