Brutal Murder Of 2 Girls Spreads Fear

(CBS/AP)  Maybe they stumbled onto a crime in progress. Perhaps they were ambushed by "drunks and dopeheads." Or maybe it was some kind of thrill killing.

The slayings of two girls - ages 11 and 13 - who were shot along a rural back road have baffled investigators and struck fear into townspeople, who are now afraid to let their children out of their sight.

"Still no motive, and I hate to say that," Ben Rosser, an agent with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said Wednesday. "This could be some kind of random thrill killing, it could be an attempted abduction, it could be somebody that just for whatever reason had a personal motive, maybe mistaken identity or possibly they did interrupt something down near the bridge. We just don't know."

Taylor Paschal-Placker, 13, and Skyla Whitaker, 11, were killed Sunday afternoon near a bridge. Both had been shot in the head and chest.

The brutality has rattled this working-class community of 1,000, situated 70 miles south of Tulsa.

Weleetka has long been the type of place folks moved to escape many of the evils of the world. But townspeople said methamphetamine use - a particular scourge in small-town Oklahoma and elsewhere in the nation's heartland - has gotten bad around here, and crime is up.

"You think you're safe anywhere, but you're not. All the thugs is moving out here, too," said Skyla's grandfather, Jimmie Farrow. "It's a whole new ballgame."

Investigators said two guns were used in the killings, which suggests there were two gunmen. But beyond that, locals have been left to guess who did it and why.

"I could walk down Main Street in Weleetka and maybe pass the individual and I wouldn't know it right now," Rosser said. He added: "This should just hit to the very core of America. I just think two little girls can't go walking down a country lane road in this day and age. It's pretty sad."

Authorities are examining tire tracks, shell casings, bullets and shoeprints for any possible leads. They said they suspect a local person was involved because the killings occurred in such an isolated area. Rosser said that nothing is being ruled out but that there is no indication family or friends were involved.

Full autopsy results have not been released, but investigators said it appears the girls were not molested. They noted the youngsters were clothed and the bodies were found only about a half-hour after the girls began walking.

Sheriff Jack Choate, admitted: "We don't know what the threat is, but if it were me, I wouldn't let my kids out walking unless there were other people around, you know, that you knew."

Children are heeding the warning.

"I'm scared to go out of my house right now," said 14-year-old Tyler Couch, who knew the victims.

Taylor's family moved here to get her away from the violence in Oklahoma City, according to her uncle, Joe Mosher. Skyla's moved from Baxter Springs, Kan., outside of Joplin, Mo., for a taste of the simple life, Farrow said.

Both families thought they found what they were looking for along an isolated country road, where the neighbors are hidden from one another by the thick woods, Farrow said.

Farrow and other neighbors said they have noticed a change in the backwoods. Time was, Farrow said, he could go hunting on his property, leave his gun propped up against the house, and nobody would touch it. In the past 10 years, he has been robbed three times, he said.

The dirt roads, which Skyla and Taylor walked dozens of times for sleepovers, have changed, too, according to Farrow.

"It just went downhill out in the country," he said. "These roads ain't nothing but drunks and dopeheads on the weekends. Sometimes, you have to drive around them, they're passed out in the middle of the road."

Mosher said drugs may have played a role in the death of his niece and her girlfriend.

"The girls might have walked up on some guys cooking dope," he said. "There's been more of that stuff going on here in the past two years."

A neighbor, Ross Padgett, said drugs and the criminal element are worse than ever.

"Marijuana, meth, coke, you name it," he said. "A number of the meth cookers are right over in this community. They are busting them so hard in the cities, they are going rural." He lifted his shirt to reveal a 9 mm pistol, saying, "I'm not worried."

He said his 10-year-old son, Dakota, arms himself with a knife when he goes out to play on the family's land. The boy has also been trained with a gun.

"I'm good with a shot," Dakota said. "I'm pretty good with almost any gun."

A reward for information leading to an arrest in the case was increased Wednesday to $25,000.

Michael Grigsby, chaplain for the Sheriff's Office, called the killings "a tremendous slap in the face of reality."

"This is not supposed to happen in the heartland of America. Everyone wants to live where their kids can walk down a gravel road," Grigsby said. "It takes a while for a community like ours to wrap our minds around it."

[nevard]

Okay people this is it. Two convicts from the same area met in prison and became friends. They got together after both were paroled, but didn't clean up their acts. Dealing in stolen mercahandise, they both acquired stolen pistols (which they could not legally possess even if the guns were not hot). They wanted to shoot the guns but could not do it in town so they drove out on a remote country road to target shoot. They had their guns out ready to shoot (perhaps 1t a tree) when the two young girls walked upon them and noticed the guns and the ex-cons noticed the girls. One of the girls whipped out a cell phone to call 911, but before she could dial the cons blasted both kids and kept firing until they knew they were dead. The motive is simple. Had the girls told police about the men having guns both would have been sent back to prison. Two ex-cons on parole are violating parole just by being in one another's company. The presence of the cell phone got the kids killed.

[beeeeeeeball]

GOD always repays... some get away for years but are tormented by men and demons.romans 1:18 says God ''s wrath is reveiled everyday toward wicked people.some sooner than others.This I do know, scientist say the center of the earth is around 12,000 degrees and the bible says Hell is there... so that awaits!

[sanabs]

Its very heart breaking to hear of cases like this especially in places you least expect. Who will do something like this? Hope the Culprits are apprehended. www.sanabsmerchant.com

[lkittenl]

Why if this road is so bad for drunks and druggies, would the parents ever, EVER allow their children to walk alone on it?? Especially knowing that some people have actually been passed out on it!?!

[patriot12436]

incognito
Did yoiu listen to the speach obama gave on gun control ?

[patriot12436]

I hope their punishment isn''t left up to God, he is too merciful.

[billorights]

Gun-rights people like to equate gun control with gun ban. This is a false argument. We can argue all day about the level of control, and that''s the way it should be. But all this talk about your guns being taken away is just crying wolf. - Posted by incog-nito at 02:40 AM : Jun 12, 2008

There is an interesting case pending before the Supreme Court this very moment regarding a matter of gun-control in a little town called Washington, DC. In this case, all handguns are prohibited, and all long guns must be kept unloaded, disassembled and locked away. For those who may depend upon those weapons for self-defense in cases of emergency, the weapons are all but useless, unless the owner breaks the law. Is that the level of gun-control that you deem reasonable? Would you think so at 3am when you hear your door being kicked in?

People have a right to defend themselves. To that end (and more) we have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms. That is the core of the argument against arbitrary gun control laws, which effectively limit only those who are inclined to obey the law.

[uscitizenvet]

Just my opinion but with so much "gang activity" these days (everywhere), my guess it was a gang initiation killing and they chose this area for the isolation and ease of escape without being seen by passerbys. Whoever it was and for whatever reason, I sincerely hope they''re caught and receive a "swift death penalty". My deepes condolences to family and friends. Thugs and thieves will always find a way to get a weapon and the legal gun owners/dealers should not share any blame in this senseless killing. Not everyone that owns or carries a gun is a threat to the general public, they are more of a deterrent and protection to those that do not own or carry. Had an armed neighbor came upon this scene as it was unfolding, there would most likely would have been a totally different outcome. Very likely it would have been 2 assailants that were killed.

To the families of these little girls my heart goes out for them and you all are in our prayers for strength and comfort. My husband and I lost our 3yr. old daughter on Jan.26,2008 in an auto accident so we know the pain of losing a child and the person you love. This world is only going to get worser and taking guns away isn''t going to prevent it. The only thing left to do is give your life to Jesus and make sure your soul goes to heaven. To the families you all will see the girls again just be thankful to God that they no longer have to endure the hardship of this world, they are in the most best place of all!

[ccdsswrkr08]

"maybe had then been PUNISHED instead of rehabilitated (which obviously works well) this would not happen."

If you know who these two are , and that they have records, you should contact the authorities. Otherwise you have no idea if rehabilitation worked or not. You just want us to think you are tough. We don''''t.


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Posted by magoo2u1 at 04:15 PM : Jun 12, 2008

I don''t think that this person knows who they are, I think they were making a more generalized statement as to our current prison system. Which I''d have to say I agree with. Jail is no longer a punishment, it''s a resort in SOME places. We need to be harder on criminals and actually start punishing them instead of babying them.