It has been over two weeks since the shooting deaths of two young girls in Weleetka, Oklahoma and investigators have yet to make an arrest in the case. While many residents of the small town are concerned about the slow progress, investigators are adamant that they are doing everything they can to solve the case.
"I believe they are on the right track, and that it's not too far away," Okmulgee County Sheriff Eddy Rice told Newsok.com, referring to his counterparts in Okfuskee County. "This is definitely not a dead end as some people think. I know that with something of this magnitude you want someone in jail this second, but there's so much to look at, and so many leads. They have a responsibility to do this right all the way. This is not a case that we want kicked out in court."
Rice also said that the "person of interest" sketch that was released to the media last week could be hindering the investigation.
"That sketch was in the paper and plastered all over the news," Rice said. "Do you have any idea how many Indians we have in this county who have long hair and wear a baseball cap?"
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation [OSBI] issued a press release last week, which said that investigators have interviewed "hundreds of people" and are in the process of re-interviewing family members. No further updates have been released.
The bodies of 11-year-old Skyla Jade Whitaker and 13-year-old Taylor Dawn Paschal-Placker were discovered on the evening of June 8, in a ditch along County Line Road in Weleetka, Oklahoma. Autopsies on the victims revealed that the girls had been shot in the head and chest. Investigators have yet to clarify how many times each girl was shot. It also remains unclear whether the girls were sexually assaulted, pending the completion of DNA testing on evidence collected during the autopsies. According to the state medical examiner's office, those tests could take several weeks to complete.
Investigators are continuing their search for a "person of interest" who may have information about the slayings. The person of interest is described as an American Indian male, approximately 35-years-old and about 6-feet-tall, with dark hair and a ponytail. Witnesses said the man was standing near the crime scene, next to a white single cab pickup with an Oklahoma license tag.
The OSBI is offering a reward in excess of $30,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the murders. Anyone with information is asked to contact the OSBI hotline at 800-522-8017 or the Okfuskee County Sheriff's Office at 918-623-1122.