Funeral services for David Metzler and Heidi Childs, Virginia Tech students found dead in a local forest, will be held Monday afternoon in Lynchburg.
Heritage Baptist Church lists the funeral times on its Web site. Metzler's funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Monday, followed by Childs' at 3 p.m. Both services will be held at Heritage.
Original Article: An e-mail from university president Charles Steger announced that the bodies of two Virginia Tech students have been identified as victims of an apparent double homicide on Wednesday night.
David Metzler, 19, a sophomore in industrial and systems engineering from Lynchburg and Heidi Childs, 18, a sophomore in biochemistry from Forest, Va., were identified as the victims by the Montgomery County Sheriff.
Both suffered gunshot wounds, and were found by a passerby early Thursday morning near the Caldwell Fields area of northern Montgomery County, roughly 12-15 miles from campus. They were in a day-use area known as Addison, Milton and George.
A search affidavit filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court Thursday morning said Metzler's body was found inside a car and Childs was found outside. The car, a 1992 Toyota, was registered to Metzler.
Both were taken to the Roanoke medical examiner's office for autopsies.
Caldwell Fields is a popular area for Tech students.
Numerous Montgomery County police cars patrolled the area Thursday night. Craig Creek Road is located off of U.S. 460.
There is a public shooting range located close to the intersection of Craig Creek Road and U.S. 460. A parking area near where the bodies were found was closed from sunset to sunrise.
"Trauma like this is deeply painful to us all. Once again, this community is visited by senseless violence and tragedy upon aspiring young minds from our campus," Steger said in a statement.
Kent Gregory, Student Ministries Pastor at Heritage Baptist Church in Lynchburg, said Metzler and Childs were very involved with the church.
"They really lived their lives based on having a relationship with Jesus," Gregory said.
The religious activities they participated in at home carried over to their time at Tech, Gregory said.
"They loved the CRU, the Campus Crusade for Christ, at Tech," Gregory said. "They were highly involved with that."
Gregory said Metzler and Childs lived their lives actively, and together. They often played guitar together at the church.
"They were outdoor people and active people," Gregory said. "They not only enjoyed life, but they lived it in an incredible godly way."
Both Metzler and Childs lived off campus, and Gregory said they maintained strong relationships.
"They had such a close group of friends," Gregory said.
He said Metzler enjoyed playing golf and soccer.
No memorial services are planned at this time, but will be posted on the university Web site once approved by the families.
As the sheriff's investigation into suspects continues, anyone with knowledge of the incident should contact the sheriff at (540)382-2951.