MISSING GIRL’S SKULL, BONES FOUND #1517 AbductionKidnapping

Authorities launched a nationwide search for 9 year old Jennifer Short, who vanished from the western Virginia home where her parents were shot to death.  Bone fragments and a skull found on a rural property are the remains of the missing girl.  Tests by a lab in Roanoke, Va., showed Jennifer had been shot.  The bodies of Michael Short, 50, and Mary Short, 36, were found early August 15, 2002 after a co-worker stopped by the home.  There were no signs of a struggle found.  The police say they believe that the girl was abducted from her bed after her parents were shot.  Authorities seized a rifle, a shotgun, two .22-caliber shell casings and boxes of ammunition from the home.  The shell casings were found during a preliminary search near the bodies.  Sheriff Frank Cassell also confirmed that phone lines to the home had been cut some time before the slayings.  He has said the culprit likely knew Michael and Mary.  A warrant said officers also found gunshot residue, a note on paper from the kitchen table and an impression of the words I'm glad to see written on a window.  The police have not ruled out robbery as a motive, but a bag containing $485 in case and a $211 check was found on the kitchen counter.

Authorities do not have a suspect, but they want to interview the man whose rented house and mobile home were recently searched.  Garrison Storm Bowman, a 60 year old carpenter from Myodan, was last seen in the area the day after the Shorts were killed; Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page said he is now in Canada.

(Collinsville, Virginia)