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Friday, October 04, 2002
Gary Storm Bowman hasn't been seen since the day after Michael and Mary Short were found dead in Henry County.
By MIKE ALLEN
Gary Storm Bowman, a reclusive furniture maker who lived for more than a decade on Beaver Creek Road near Mayodan, hasn't been seen since Aug. 16. That was the day after Michael and Mary Short were found shot to death in their home along U.S. 220 just south of the Franklin County border. The Shorts' daughter, 9-year-old Jennifer, has been missing since her parents' bodies were discovered. No suspects have been identified in the case, said Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. However, search warrants filed in Rockingham County courts since the Shorts were killed indicate that detectives believe Bowman could be connected. The Shorts owned a mobile home moving business. Two days before the killings were discovered, Bowman told his landlord, Gary Lemons, that he had paid a Virginia man to move a trailer he owned, but that the man was refusing to do the work. According to the search warrants, Bowman told Lemons he would have to kill the man if his money wasn't returned. On Aug. 18, Rockingham County authorities searched the house Bowman rented on Beaver Creek Road. On Sept. 28, they also searched Bowman's trailer, which was abandoned on Webster Road, less than a mile from where a Stoneville man found the skeletal remains of a girl last week. Lemons declined to comment Thursday, saying detectives asked him not to discuss the case. The search warrants are based on Lemons' statement to investigators. This is the account the documents give of his testimony: On Aug. 13, Bowman called Lemons to ask if Lemons would move a trailer for him. Bowman said he'd already paid a man in Virginia to move the trailer, but the man wouldn't do it. If the man didn't complete the job or return his money, Bowman told Lemons, Bowman would have to kill the man. On Aug. 15, the day the Shorts' bodies were found, Lemons went to the house on Beaver Creek Road. Bowman came around the corner of the house holding a pistol and told Lemons to leave. The next day, Lemons returned to find the house abandoned. Bowman's trailer, which had been parked in the yard, was gone. On Aug. 18, Lemons went inside the Beaver Creek Road house. He found maps of Henry, Patrick, Franklin and Floyd counties. There was a red mark on the Henry County map near the point where U.S. 220 crosses into Franklin County. Lemons also found children's clothing in the house. He told police that to his knowledge, Bowman had never had any children living with him in the house. Police seized maps and a handwritten note from the home, according to the warrants. After authorities found the trailer, they seized mattresses, cushions, blankets, sheets, samples of hair, a vacuum cleaner and telephone records. They also sought phone records from Sprint to establish whether Bowman had ever called the Shorts. Page declined to comment on the search warrants. Henry County Sheriff Frank Cassell also declined to comment. Bowman's neighbors described him as a reclusive man who generally was willing to help out a friend. "I called him the 'jack-of-all-trades,'" said neighbor J. Martin. Bowman once did a minor plumbing job for him. "He's the type of guy, he'd help you out," said Stan Smith, another neighbor. He expressed disbelief that police would focus their attention on Bowman. Both men said police questioned them about Bowman soon after the Shorts were slain, and again after the girl's remains were found in North Carolina. The News & Record of Greensboro, N.C., contributed to this report.
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