Brian Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 (edited) Sad. http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=8053907&page=1 Fla. Couple Who Adopted 12 Children Found Slain Cops Seek 3 for Questioning After Parents of 16 Found Shot Dead in Bedroom; Kids OK By MARISSA NELSON PENSACOLA, Fla., July 10, 2009 Investigators asked the public to be on the lookout Friday for a red van they believe carried three men involved in the deaths of a Florida Panhandle couple, shot in their rural home while eight of their children slept. The Escambia County Sheriff's Office said men in a red full-size van were seen leaving the home of Byrd and Melanie Billings -- the Escambia County couple found shot to death in the bedroom of their home in Beulah, just west of Pensacola near the Alabama border. (Courtesy Pensacola News)Surveillance cameras from the home of business owners Byrd and Melanie Billings showed the presence of the van at their home in Beulah, a rural area west of Pensacola near the Alabama border, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said. The children were unharmed. The sheriff's office, in requesting the public's help, released a enhanced but still grainy photograph of a red, 15-passenger van dating to the late 70s or early 80s. Morgan said investigators did not know who killed the wealthy couple known for adopting children with developmental disabilities, many born to drug-addicted mothers. But they said they wanted to question the three men suspected of involvement in the crime. Investigators are also awaiting autopsy results on the couple to learn more about the killings, he added. Morgan said eight of the children, ages 8 to 14, were in the home when the couple was killed and found safe. A woman who lives in an outlying building and helps care for the children called emergency dispatchers from the home and reported the killings Thursday evening. Authorities have said deputies had to wake some of the children after they entered the home. Investigators interviewed the children, who are now staying with relatives, and other family members Friday, Morgan said. The Billings had 16 children, 12 of them adopted. They married 18 years ago and each had two children from previous marriages. The Billings then began adopting children with developmental disabilities and other problems and shared a nine-bedroom home with them. In a 2005 story from the Pensacola News Journal, the couple said they wanted to share their wealth with children in need, but didn't imagine their family would grow so large. (ABC News)"It just happened," Melanie Byrd told the newspaper. "I just wanted to give them a better life." Edited July 11, 2009 by Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rangercal Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Things like this make me wish the worst kinds of torture for the killers. f*** Prison, f*** the death penalty, slice their entire bodies all over and let them soak in a tub of lime juice for a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 I'm going to reserve judgment until the killers are caught. There is just a nagging thought in the back of my mind about who may have done this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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