Sunday, August 30, 2009
Police still seek leads in deaths of Tech students
Services for Heidi Childs and David Metzler will be Monday in Lynchburg.
STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS The Roanoke Times
Dana and Anthony Brogan frequent Caldwell Fields and came to pay their respects Saturday after learning about the shootings.
Photos by STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS The Roanoke Times
Garvice and DeDe Jones, who live near Caldwell Fields, visit the campground Saturday and place a bouquet of flowers along a railing where others had started a memorial. "It's just another black eye to the community," Garvice Jones said of the killings.
Photos by STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS The Roanoke Times
"I saw what's on the news and it amazed me. It ain't like 'Deliverance' down here or nothing," said Neel Lilly, pictured talking with Officer Randy Alls and Sgt. Mark Hollandsworth of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.
The investigation: Ongoing coverage
Earlier coverage
- Few clues, many tears in deaths of Tech students
- Caldwell Fields neighbors did not hear shots
- Dan Casey: Neighbors shaken after meadow becomes killing field
- Police seek suspects in Virginia Tech students' killings
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Heidi Childs and David Metzler, seen here in a photo from her Facebook profile, were inseparable.
Statements
As local residents pay their respects and funeral plans are set, police still are searching for leads in the Montgomery County shooting that claimed the lives of two Virginia Tech sophomores.
"We've been working it all day and all night, and we're not going to stop until we find him," Lt. Norman Croy of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said, referring to an unknown suspect or suspects.
Croy said the investigation is ongoing, and that the sheriff's office has no new information to release at this time.
Montgomery County authorities have said that Heidi Lynn Childs, 18, of Forest and David Lee Metzler, 19, of Lynchburg apparently were shot either Wednesday night or Thursday morning at Caldwell Fields, a group campground in the Jefferson National Forest that is popular among Tech students.
Montgomery County authorities increased patrols in the area Saturday afternoon, while Virginia State Police surveyed the scene.
"You'd never think something like that would happen around here," said Dana Brogan, who stopped by with her husband, Anthony Brogan, to pay their respects.
The couple said they frequent the forest and heard the news Saturday afternoon from a friend when they were on their way to take a leisurely motorcycle ride through Caldwell Fields.
"It's just awful," Anthony Brogan said.
Brogan, 38, first introduced the area to his wife four years ago and said it had been a staple in his life since he was 4 years old. Now, he often visits for hunting, Brogan said.
He said the recent events have cast a black cloud over what he calls an otherwise peaceful area, in which he would often see more than 20 Tech students at a time enjoying the campground.
Dana Brogan said the couple often bring their children with them, but the double homicide has made her uneasy about doing so any time soon.
DeDe and Garvice Jones have lived on nearby Harley Lane for 13 years and said it was tragic that a violent killing occurred at a typically peaceful place.
"It's just another black eye to the community," Garvice Jones said.
The couple rode to the site of the slayings and left a bouquet of maroon flowers.
Meanwhile, back-to-back funerals have been scheduled for Monday afternoon in Lynchburg. And visitation with family members and viewings will be held today for Childs and Metzler.
The visitation for Childs will be held this afternoon at the Tharp Funeral Home at 220 Breezewood Drive in Lynchburg from 3 to 6 p.m. Visitation for Metzler will be held during the same hours at the Heritage Baptist Church chapel, just across the street from the funeral home.
Funerals will be held Monday at Heritage Baptist's worship center, with the ceremony for Metzler starting at 1 p.m. and the one for Childs following at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, a memorial service for the two may be held soon on the Virginia Tech campus. In a letter Friday to the Tech community, President Charles Steger wrote that details will be announced as soon as the school receives information from the families.
An obituary for Childs published Saturday in The (Lynchburg) News & Advance stated that "our beautiful, smiling Heidi went to see her Jesus at the young age of 18."
Metzler's obituary stated that he "joyfully met his Savior, Jesus Christ, on Thursday, Aug. 27."
In lieu of flowers, the families are asking that contributions be made to Campus Crusade for Christ, an organization both students were actively involved in. The address for Tech's chapter is 211 Draper Road N.W., Blacksburg, VA 24060.
lerone.graham@roanoke.com 981-3340
laurence.hammack @roanoke.com 981-3239
