With the first anniversary of the murders of Virginia Tech students Heidi Childs and David Metzler 10 days away, investigators are asking the public to continue to call in tips.
Childs and Metzler, who were Tech sophomores at the time, were killed Aug. 26, 2009 at Caldwell Fields in a remote part of Montgomery County while camping.
A task force of 15 investigators from 8 law enforcement agencies has been investigating the unsolved case for the past 11 months. At a press conference Monday in Christiansburg, members of the task force asked for continued help from the public in the pursuit of solving the case.
The task force has followed more than 1,100 leads and traveled more than 500 miles on one occasion to conduct interviews. FBI Special Agent Kevin Foust, a member of the task force, praised local residents for the reaction to the case.
“Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the Childs and Metzler families and the entire Virginia Tech community,” Foust said. “You have embraced them as if they were your own children, your own family.”
While the task force has not focused on any strong suspects, investigators offered a description of how a potential suspect may act.
According to police, the person or persons who committed the murders would likely be familiar with the area and had a good reason to be there that night. They would not likely be recognized as “a monster” or a sociopath, according to Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office investigator Dennis Rakes.
However, they may have exhibited signs of distress after the murders. Among possible behaviors mentioned were missing work, taking an unusual interest in the case or making major life changes.
A $70,000 reward is being offered for information that helps solve the case. Any information given to investigators will remain anonymous.
Rakes called the flow of leads steady, but said investigators are looking for “that one bit of information” that produces a breakthrough in the case.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office or any other member of the task force. Other agencies involved include the Virginia State Police, FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office.
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I greatly respect the efforts of the police investigators in trying to close this case. However, I do believe that it will remain forever unsolved. Reasons briefly follow:
1. Location - the killings happened in a remote area, out of sight or hearing distance from any dwelling. It happened on a weekday night, when very few people would be casually out there.
2. Nothing was stolen from either victim nor was Heidi molested in any way. This rules out robbery or rape as a motivation. Typically many killers take something from their victims or molest the female either alive or dead. Didn't happen here.
3. The rapidity by which the crime occurred, Metzlee was shot first while still behind the wheel of his car and Heidi a few feet away running from it, suggests sudden spontaneous ambush.
The two victims came to a location where they saw the perpetrator doing something he didn't want anyone to see. I suspect the killer was involved with illegal drugs, production or distribution. These two kids interrupted his space and he shot them dead and drove off, without a second thought other than protecting his business.
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My knowledge of the case is based only on what has been published in various media outlets.
The isolated location of National Parks and Forests have attracted illicit activity, such as drug cultivation, in the past few years.
Let me emphasize that the two victims were not themselves involved in anything illicit, but happened only to be unwitting bystanders at a seemingly safe place and wrong time.
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