2 Guns, 2 Killers? Okla. Police Think So
Different guns were used to kill Oklahoma girls found dead in a ditch Sunday.
June 11, 2008— -- Two guns were used to kill the best-friend pair found dead in an Oklahoma ditch Sunday evening, and authorities now say they believe more than one person is responsible for murders.
Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, confirmed to ABC News that two different - caliber weapons were used to kill 13-year-old Taylor Paschel-Placker and 11-year-old Skyla Whitaker. Brown would not say exactly what types of weapons were used to kill the children because the detail's release might compromise the investigation.
Authorities still have not identified a motive or suspects in the crime, which has left the small town of Weleetka, Okla., on edge. The reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the shooting deaths was raised today to $25,000.
Residents have called Okfuskee County Sheriff's Office to express concern for the safety of their children, knowing that those responsible for murdering two children have not been brought to justice. Authorities have said they believe the killers were local to the rural Oklahoma town, with knowledge of the area. The bodies were found on a dirt road near a busy highway overpass known as a trash-dumping spot.
The girls, described as best friends and among only five female students in the town's shared fifth- and sixth-grade elementary classrooms, had been shot multiple times in the chest and head.
Taylor and her grandparents, also her legal guardians, had moved to the small town of Weleetka from Oklahoma City to escape the city's dangers. Weleetka has a population of 1,014, according to the 2000 Census.
One resident, Cliff Porter, told "Good Morning America" that only a "monster" could be responsible for such a crime. Another, Leann Harrison, said parents are keeping a closer eye on their kids.
"We always felt like she would be safe just walking up and down the road," Claudia Farrow, Skyla's grandmother, said. "But now I don't think anybody's safe."
At a news conference Tuesday, in which authorities announced that they had neither a suspect nor motive nearly 48 hours after the girls were killed, Sheriff Jack Choate did little to talk residents out of their safety concerns.
