news-record.com

ROANOKE, Va. (MCT) — The task force investigating the slayings of Michael, Mary and Jennifer Short is asking for help identifying a vehicle that could be connected to the 2002 triple homicide.

A notice posted on an FBI Web site about the case calls for tips but gives no description of what type of vehicle investigators have in mind.

An FBI agent in Richmond said the update is necesarily vague. If investigators gave a specific description of a potential suspect vehicle, the agent said, it might discourage witnesses from reporting it if what they saw does not match a more exact description.

On Aug. 15, 2002, the bodies of Michael and Mary Short were discovered in their home in Oak Level in Henry Co., Va. The skeletal remains of their daughter Jennifer were found a month later in Rockingham County. All three family members had been fatally shot.

MacKizer said the task force has received a number of tips since the Web site went live Aug. 15 — the sixth anniversary of the discovery of the crime —but most of them have had little to do with the avenues that the task force is actively pursuing. The update is intended to bring in tips more in focus with what investigators are looking into.

There is a $67,000 reward for tips that lead to an arrest and conviction in the case.

The Internet page devoted to the Short case be found here. The FBI is accepting phone tips about the case at (800) 225-5324.