Friday, August 28, 2009
Police seek suspects in Virginia Tech students' deaths
The bodies of two sophomores with bullet wounds were found in a campground area of the Jefferson National Forest.
Heidi Lynn Childs and David Lee Metzler pose together in a photo from Childs' Facebook page.
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Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times
Police investigate at Caldwell Fields in the Jefferson National Forest in Montgomery County.
Statement from the Virginia State Police
Statement from Virginia Tech president Charles Steger
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UPDATES: Follow updates as police continue their investigation
The bodies of two young Virginia Tech students from central Virginia were found Thursday in a remote area of Montgomery County, and authorities are considering their deaths to be a double homicide.
The victims are David Lee Metzler, 19, of Lynchburg and Heidi Lynn Childs, 18, of Forest, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.
In the Virginia Tech student directory, Metzler's major is listed as industrial and systems engineering. Childs is listed as a biochemistry major. Both were sophomores.
Sheriff Tommy Whitt said both victims appeared to have been shot where they had parked in a day-use area of Caldwell Fields. The area is a large group campground in the Jefferson National Forest more than eight miles down Craig Creek Road, where a shooting range and Camp Tuk-A-Way are located, off U.S. 460.
Caldwell Fields is a popular weekend hangout spot for Tech students, authorities said.
"We are going to step up our patrols in that area even though we think it was a random act of brutal violence," Whitt said.
He said investigators, who spent all day Thursday combing the site for evidence, had identified and were trying to locate persons of interest who had been seen in the area. He offered no details.
The bodies were discovered about 8 a.m. by a man walking his dog. Metzler's body was inside a car; Childs' was outside, Whitt said.
He did not say how many times or where on their bodies they appeared to have been shot. No weapons were found, he said.
According to a search warrant affidavit filed Thursday in Montgomery County Circuit Court, deputies were searching the car for "firearms, weapons, shell or bullet casings, fingerprints, DNA and the identification of the people involved." A list of any items seized had not yet been filed with the court.
According to the affidavit, Metzler was found inside a 1992 Toyota registered to him.
Whitt said investigators believe the pair had gone to the day-use area together and were killed between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
"We feel like possibly an intruder came in and subsequently both of the persons are now deceased," he said. He called the killings brutal and ugly.
After the victims' families had been notified and their names released, Tech President Charles Steger sent an e-mail to the university community, including students, faculty and staff.
"Once again," he wrote, "this community is visited by senseless violence and tragedy upon aspiring young minds from our campus."
Many in the Tech community are still reeling from the beheading of a student in a campus cafe in January and the killings of 32 students and faculty on campus on April 16, 2007, by another student.
Steger said Tech extends its deepest sympathies to the families and will assist in any way possible. He said he was not aware of any memorials or a memorial service but would post information approved by the victims' families on Tech's Web site.
Childs was the daughter of a Virginia State Police trooper, according to a statement the agency released from its Richmond headquarters.
"Tonight, the Virginia State Police grieves with Sgt. Donald Childs and his family during this deeply difficult and painful time," Col. Steven Flaherty said in the statement. "I extend my most heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathies to his loved ones, along with all members of his state police family."
The Childs family will not be commenting about the deaths, according to the statement.
The family lives on a shaded cul-de-sac in Forest, where people arrived all evening, bringing food and drink.
"If you had to type anything, it would be this: Heidi was a godly young lady who any father would be proud to call his daughter," said the Rev. Kent Gregory, the student ministries pastor at Heritage Baptist Church, where her family attended.
News of the deaths spread quickly through the Craig Creek community and prompted some residents to say they would keep their doors locked.
"Until they find out who did it, it worries me," Angie Sult said.
Teddy Mullins, a law enforcement officer with the U.S. Forest Service, said a permit is required for overnight use of the campground. He said he gets about 60 camping requests per weekend night from students.
Staff writer Rex Bowman contributed to this report.
