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Re: Two girls(11 and 13) murdered in rural Oklahoma
WELEETKA, Okla. -- Authorities announced a $14,000 reward Tuesday as they continued to search for the killer of two young girls near Weleetka in rural Okfuskee County.
The bodies of 11-year-old Skyla Whitaker and 13-year-old Taylor Placker were found Sunday afternoon by Taylor's grandfather, Peter Placker, according to authorities. Placker had legal guardianship over his granddaughter.
The girls, who were sleeping over at Taylor's house, decided to take a walk down the desolate road Sunday afternoon, something they were used to doing in their rural community.
"I can't describe coming up on it," Peter Placker said, sobbing uncontrollably, as he tried to remember walking up on the scene, only about one-quarter mile from his house. "I done it once and I can't do it again."
Stan Florence, inspector with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, confirmed the names of the girls Monday. Florence said the victims were shot "multiple times" and it was unknown if they were molested. The OSBI is offering the $14,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer. Initially, investigators reported that they were looking into possible suspects, but in a press conference Tuesday, those reports were reversed.
Meanwhile, relatives said they are trying to make sense of the grisly killings in a community where some folks still leave their keys in their cars and residents who live 10 miles apart still call themselves neighbors.
Skyla was the carefree adventurer, the girl who walked barefoot almost everywhere and rode her bicycle down endless dirt roads, her family said. Where she went, her many cats followed, along with her pet goat. Skyla wanted to become a veterinarian, said her grandmother, Claudia Farrow.
To know Taylor was to love her, her family said. She was the big-hearted girl who rescued helpless turtles crawling in the middle of the road and wanted to become a forensic scientist, like on the TV shows, said Peter Placker.
She was home-schooled until the family moved to Weleetka, located about 70 miles south of Tulsa.
"She was the best kid I've known," Placker said.
To make a donation to the girls' separate funeral funds, contact the Bank of Commerce in Weleetka.
Bank of Commerce
PO Box 248
Weleetka, OK 74880
(405) 786-2216
Re: Two girls(11 and 13) murdered in rural Oklahoma
Horrific crime. My first instinct is they likely walked in to a drug deal in progress. Maybe even involving someone they know. I also seen this story on the news, and it said the girls left the house at 5:00, and their bodies were found at 5:30. Obviously the shit went down awfully quick. Each was shot multiple times, and their bodies were in the same place they were shot.
This would pretty much rule out kidnapping attempt, rape,etc. Its either someone they know or they walked into a situation they weren't supposed to see.
Re: Two girls(11 and 13) murdered in rural Oklahoma
The case is now on CNN's front page.
(CNN) -- Residents of a small Oklahoma town were warned Tuesday that the shooting deaths of two schoolgirls may be the work of someone who lives in the area.
"If it were me, I wouldn't let my kids out walking unless there were other people around that you knew," Okfuskee County Sheriff Jack Choate said Tuesday. "We don't know what the threat is."
Authorities said Tuesday that they were offering a $14,000 reward for information related to the deaths of close friends Taylor Dawn Paschal-Placker, 13, of Weleetka and Skyla Jade Whitaker, 11, of Henryetta.
The girls had planned a sleepover at Taylor's house Sunday night, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Agent Ben Rosser said Tuesday.
The two left Taylor's home about 5 p.m. Sunday and headed north on the rural county road where Taylor lived, toward a bridge that is a popular gathering spot, Ross said.
A few minutes later, Taylor's grandfather and guardian called her cell phone to tell the girls to return home. When she didn't answer, he went out to look for them, according to Rosser.
About a quarter mile down the road, which Taylor and Skyla had used many time before, he found them lying side by side in a ditch. They had multiple gunshot wounds in the head and chest. There were no signs of sexual assault, Rosser said.
"It's just not likely that somebody pulled off U.S. 75 or I-40 and went there," Rosser said, referring to where the girls were found, about three miles from the nearest major thoroughfare. "We're thinking it's a person from the local area."
The shooting occurred outside Weleetka, a town of about 1,000 residents 75 miles from Tulsa. Taylor and Skyla were the only girls in their sixth- and fifth-grade classes, according to The Oklahoman newspaper.
"Believe it or not, I have never pulled any shades in my house and I keep my doors unlocked," said Dena Priddy, a teacher's aide at the school the victims attended, The Associated Press reported. "You just don't expect these things to happen here."
"I can't put it into words," said Jake Fenley, Skyla's basketball coach, according to the AP. "This doesn't happen in rural middle America."
Rosser also said that although authorities were considering all avenues of investigation, they had not closed in on any suspects or persons of interest. Rosser said evidence from the scene, including DNA and ballistics, had been sent to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation lab for processing.
Rosser said authorities were also investigating tire tracks and footprints in determining a possible motive for the shootings.
"They were close together, as far as if they were fleeing, that's one thing we're trying to consider," he said. "We're looking at everything."
Choate said that since the killings, his office has received numerous calls from concerned parents.
"I think anytime that you have people this age killed, regardless of whether it's a girl or a boy, it has an effect on everyone," Choate said. "The first thing that crosses my mind is, 'What if that ever happened to me?' "
By Tuesday morning, a makeshift memorial consisting of rosary beads, stuffed animals and flowers had replaced the yellow crime scene tape where the bodies were found, according to the AP.
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Police are asking members of the public with information about the case to call 1-800-522-8017.
To make a donation to a burial fund for the victims' families, the public can also contact the Bank of Commerce in Weleetka, Rosser said.
Re: Two girls(11 and 13) murdered in rural Oklahoma
Taylor and Skyla were the only girls in their sixth- and fifth-grade classes
Could be the clue they need, or just a very odd coincidence.
I still think this was drug related. They were murdered too quickly for there to be some other sort of motive(kidnapping, rape, obsessed stalker).
However, the overkill in these murders is frightening and does suggest something personal.
Hopefully they can solve this case ASAP.
- Gunslinger
- Rep: 88
Re: Two girls(11 and 13) murdered in rural Oklahoma
The extremity of the murders does suggest something more than an accidental misfortune. The hardest hit to an enemy is to hurt what is dearest to them. My guess is that is what we are reading about.
Re: Two girls(11 and 13) murdered in rural Oklahoma
Investigators are looking for at least two people in the murder of two young girls in Okfuskee County. The horrific story of what happened to these girls is spreading across the globe. Now, there's an outpouring of support to catch the killers. The News On 6's Jeffrey Smith reports that police now believe there were two shooters.
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jessica Brown said Wednesday two different caliber weapons were used to kill 13-year-old Taylor Paschal-Placker and 11-year-old Skyla Whitaker. And, as you'd image, people in the small town of Weleetka are still in shock.
Police say the reward for an arrest and conviction of the killers has nearly doubled from about $14,000 to $25,000.
The story also has an international element as well. Okfuskee County Sheriff's Deputies say they've received calls from Scotland Yard in England offering assistance in the investigation. Of course, the FBI and U.S. Marshals have also offered aid.
The girls were discovered Sunday afternoon. The state medical examiner's office says each suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest.
Re: Two girls(11 and 13) murdered in rural Oklahoma
Wow. Could just be a random killer who enjoys killing? Maybe he shot one girl in the face, let the other freak out for his/her enjoyment, and then shot her too?
Drug deal seemed pretty likely until I heard they were shot in the face... 
. Still a possibility.
Re: Two girls(11 and 13) murdered in rural Oklahoma
Hard to think it was just random. It seems like a really remote, small town. I don't think it was a drug deal either, people in small town America don't deal that way, out on the streets. I think it was either an older teen who had or wanted relations with the girl, or as Guns pointed out myb someone wanted revengeon the parents. I doubt that though, I think it was a relationship type of thing, either he had sex with the girl, and she threatened to tell (because the boy is older) or she laughed at him & turned him down.
I hope they catch them though, whoever it is.
Re: Two girls(11 and 13) murdered in rural Oklahoma
people in small town America don't deal that way
Cmon now, Mayberry doesn't exist. I agree that the chances of these types of crime are less in rural america, but it does happen. I used to live in the four state area in the mid 90's(OK,AR,MO,KS), and lived around a hundred miles from this area that had small towns just like it. In Seneca, MO back in 92, an old rich couple was shot execution style and robbed. It shocked that town(I lived there at the time). By looking at that town, you wouldn't think such things were possible.
The murders were never solved, or at least not while I lived there. Another fucked up murder that happened in the area was a banker being murdered by some group of guys. He was tied up and thrown off a bridge near Grove, OK. I had drove across that bridge many times on my way to Jay, OK to visit friends.
Small town apple pie america is not immune to horrific crimes.
