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BLACKSBURG, Va. — Two Virginia Tech University students were found slain Thursday at a Jefferson National Forest campground that is a popular hangout for students, authorities said.

The latest killings are hitting a campus still reeling from the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history and the beheading of a student earlier this year.

The bodies of David Lee Metzler, 19, of Lynchburg and Heidi Lynn Childs, 18, of Forest were found by a passerby, Montgomery County Sheriff Lt. Brian Wright said. Both appear to have been shot, he said. Wright said Metzler's body was found inside a car in the parking area of the Caldwell Fields campground and Childs was found outside the car. The campground is about 15 miles from Virginia Tech's campus in Blacksburg.

A suspect has not been identified and autopsies were being conducted in Roanoke.

Metzler was a sophomore industrial and systems engineering major and Childs, a sophomore biochemistry major.

In an e-mail to students and staff, Virginia Tech President Charles Steger again was counseling his campus community. Two years ago, a student gunman killed 32 others and himself. In January, a doctoral student beheaded a fellow student in a campus cafe.

"Trauma like this is deeply painful to us all," Steger wrote. "Once again, this community is visited by senseless violence and tragedy upon aspiring young minds from our campus.

"I know that many of you likely have complex feelings about now. How can this happen in this area, at this time, to this community?"

Steger said the university would post information about memorial services on its Web site.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hnIVzil5Q0aiAyCpb8OkH_U8qfxAD9ABGCBO3

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office has identified two homicide victims found this morning as Virginia Tech students who lived near Lynchburg.

The victims are David Lee Metzler, 19, and Heidi Lynn Childs, 18, both of Lynchburg. The two lived off-campus, according to law enforcement officials.

According to the Tech Web site, Metzler is an industrial and systems engineering major, and Childs was studying biochemistry.

The bodies of the young adults were found this morning in the Jefferson National Forest in Montgomery County, the sheriff's office said.

Sheriff Tommy Whitt said it is being considered a double homicide. Whitt said both victims appear to have been shot but he wouldn't say how many times or where on their bodies. "It's brutal. It's ugly," he said.

The man’s body was found inside a car and the woman’s body outside the car, Whitt said. He said the bodies would be taken to the medical examiner's office in Roanoke for autopsies.

The bodies were found in the day use area of Caldwell Fields, a campground on Craig Creek Road, by a bicyclist or a hiker about 8 a.m., Whitt said. He said he believes the killings took place between last night and this morning.

A suspect has not been identified and no weapons were found at the scene, Whitt said. Investigators have been on scene all day attempting to gather evidence.

Whitt said deputies have checked the car's registration and were checking to see if it may have been registered at Virginia Tech. Caldwell Fields, which is only a mile or two from the Craig County line, is a popular hangout spot for Tech students, an official with the U.S. Forest Service said.

Deputies' cellphones don't have a signal in the area, and Whitt said Sprint offered to bring them cellphones that would have service.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/216809

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/217238


 
 
 

 
The funeral services for two Virginia Tech sophomores who apparently were shot to death last week in the Caldwell Fields section of the Jefferson National Forest are scheduled for today in Lynchburg.

As of Sunday evening, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office still was seeking leads for the shooting, which they believe occurred either Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

Services for David Lee Metzler, 19, of Lynchburg and Heidi Lynn Childs, 18, of Forest will be held at Heritage Baptist Church, which both students attended.

Metzler's service will be at 1 p.m., while Childs' will be at 3 p.m. Each service will be streamed live on Heritage Baptist Church's Web site at www.hbclynchburg.com.

In lieu of flowers, the families request that contributions be made to Campus Crusade for Christ. Metzler and Childs were actively involved in this organization's Virginia Tech chapter.

-- Jenny Kincaid Boone



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Police arrest suspect in Blue Ridge Parkway shootings, may be connected to unsolved murders April 9, 10:27 PM

On Wednesday afternoon, police surrounded a home in Stuarts Draft, Va., and took Ralph Leon Jackson, 56, into custody. The arrest came as a result of a Crime Stoppers tip received that morning.

In a news conference following the arrest, Augusta County Sheriff Randy Fisher said: “There is no doubt that we have in custody the person responsible for the April 5 shooting. He is being interviewed right now as we speak and he has made incriminating statements.”

On Monday, Tim Davis, 27 and Christina S. Floyd, 18, were shot at a popular scenic view on the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Afton, Va. The two were watching the sunset at Rock Point Overlook, when Jackson allegedly pulled up behind them and opened fire with a shotgun from his car.

Davis, a disc jockey in Charlottesville, who suffers from muscular dystrophy, was actually propelled down the hill from the force of the shotgun blast. Rescuers later found him nearly 200 feet from where he had been sitting.

Though shot, Floyd, apparently confronted the shooter, and reportedly shouted: “‘Why are you doing this?’”

Sheriff Fisher said Jackson replied: “Because I’m crazy.”

Both victims were shot in the upper back, head, and neck. While Floyd is listed in fair condition and recovering from her wounds, Davis is still listed in critical condition at the University of Virginia Medical Center.

Neither Davis, nor Floyd know Jackson.

Sheriff Fisher told reporters: “There’s no rhyme or reason. But the public can breathe somewhat easier.”

Jackson has been charged with attempted capital murder.

The FBI is reportedly investigating Jackson for any involvement he may have with the August 2009 unsolved murder of two Virginia Tech students Montgomery County.

On the morning of August 27, 2009, the bodies of students David Lee Metzler, 19, and Heidi Lynn Childs, 18, at the Caldwell Fields Campground, located off of US 460. The pair were shot to death.

Metzler’s body was found inside his 1992 Toyota, while Childs’ was found outside.
The campsite is a popular destination for Virginia Tech students.

Montgomery County Sheriff Tommy Whitt described the double-murder as “a random act of brutal violence.”

Both Metzler and Childs were sophomores. Childs’ father is a Virginia State Trooper.
http://www.examiner.com/x-5919-Norfolk-Crime-Examiner~y2010m4d9-Police-arrest-suspect-in-Blue-Ridge-Parkway-shootings-may-be-connected-to-unsolved-murders

 ::MonkeyEek::   ::MonkeyNoNo::  Evil, not crazy imo.  Pure evil.   ::MonkeyNoNo::

Parkway shooter sentenced

 By Lisa Provence | lisa@readthehook.com
 Published online 4:55pm Thursday Jun 9th, 2011
and in print issue #1024 dated Thursday Jun 16th, 2011

(http://www.readthehook.com/files/imagecache/partial_width/images/field_images/news-ralphleonjackson-325x285.jpg) Ralph Leon Jackson

The man who fired upon two strangers and terrorized the Blue Ridge Parkway in April 2010 was sentenced June 9 in federal court in Harrisonburg.
 
Ralph Leon Jackson, 57, previously had pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the slaying of Tim Davis, a DJ at WNRN, one count of assaulting Christina Floyd with intent to murder, and two weapons charges for using a 20-gauge shotgun to blast the couple as they were taking in the sunset at Rock Point Overlook on April 5, 2010.
 
Jackson already had agreed to a life sentence for the murder charge. To be served consecutively with that, he picked up 35 years on the weapons charges and 240 months for assaulting Floyd.
 
 ::snipping2::
http://www.readthehook.com/91560/parkway-shooter-sentenced

How many like this are walking among us?  WOW

http://www.nbc12.com/story/23275420/reward-increased-for-leads-in-unsolved-murder-of-va-tech-students
Reward increased for leads in unsolved murder of two VA Tech students
Posted: Aug 28, 2013 6:28 AM CST Updated: Aug 28, 2013 6:28 AM CST
BLACKSBURG, VA (WWBT) -

The reward for leads in the unsolved murders of two Virginia Tech student is about to go up.
<snipped>

http://wtvr.com/2014/10/02/how-easily-was-dna-taken-and-tested-in-hannah-graham-case/
How easily was DNA taken and tested in Hannah Graham case?
October 2, 2014

 ::snipping3::
Matthew’s Virginia-based lawyer had little to say about his client when approached this week outside his Charlottesville office.

“I am Mr. Matthew’s attorney,” James Camblos said. “I was hired on Saturday. That’s the only thing that I’m going to confirm at this point. The family and I — nobody is making any statements at this point in time. We might later on, but right now we are not.”

Matthew willingly went to a police station last weekend, along with several family members, walking through the front door and asking for a lawyer, Longo said. There was no warrant for his arrest at that time.

Matthew and the lawyer spoke and then left, the police chief said, giving detectives no clearer picture of what may have happened the day Graham disappeared. Because he has retained counsel, police cannot question him.

Incidents Jesse Matthew Jr.  has been connected to:

Oct. 17, 2002 – Alleged sexual assault at Liberty University
Sept. 7, 2003 – Reported CNU assault
Sept. 24, 2005 – Northern Virginia rape (forensic evidence linked to Morgan Harrington case)
Oct. 17, 2009 – Morgan Harrington disappearance
Sept. 13, 2014 – Hannah Graham disappearance
Law enforcement investigating cases for possible connection to Matthew:

July 24, 2003 — Autumn Day in Newport News
Sept. 7, 2003 – Sophia Rivera in Newport News
August 26, 2009 – Heidi Childs and David Metzler, in Blacksburg
Oct. 10, 2009 – Cassandra Morton, not far from Lynchburg
Sept. 13, 2010 – Samantha Clarke, in Orange County
Cases unsolved in the area near Charlottesville

Jan. 24, 2010 – Joan Cook, Roanoke County
Nov. 21, 2011 — Lauren Smith, Madison County
Nov. 20, 2012 — Dashad Sage Smith, Charlottesville
August 3, 2013 – Alexis Murphy, Shipman (Randy Taylor jailed for this, body never
 ::snipping3::

I've started a thread in Missing Persons for Cassandra Morton:

http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?topic=15467
Cassandra Morton 23,Lynchburg, TN Reported Missing 10/10/09, Body Found 11/29/09