Nine-group task force to centralize efforts in probe of Tech slayings

Special Report


Heidi Childs and David Metzler

Get more coverage, including past stories, the teens’ obituaries and a link to an online prayer group in their memory.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday the formation of a nine-agency task force to investigate the death of two Virginia Tech sophomores from the Lynchburg area.

Heidi Childs, 18, of Forest, and David Metzler, 19, of Campbell County, were found dead at an off-campus camping area in northern Montgomery County the morning of Thursday, Aug. 27.

The sheriff’s office, FBI, town police departments from Blacksburg and Christiansburg, the Virginia Tech Police Department, the Virginia State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Forest Service comprise the task force.

“They’ve all been involved from the beginning in some capacity or another,” said Lt. Brian Wright, of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, “and it just made sense to bring them all together now and give them all a central place to work out of.”

Wright said the county has provided space for the agencies to use, as the sheriff’s office wasn’t large enough to accommodate everyone.

Wright said the sheriff’s office had investigated the deaths as a homicide from the beginning.

“It’s clear that it wasn’t carried out by either one of the two (victims),” he said.

“It’s been clear from the beginning it’s a homicide.”

Wright did not release a cause of death for the victims, but said early in the investigation that both appeared to have suffered gunshot wounds.

The sheriff’s office has not released findings from autopsies performed by the medical examiner’s office.

The fathers of both of the victims — Sgt. Don Childs, of the Virginia State Police, and Dr. Keith Metzler — spoke with Nancy Grace from CNN Headline News last week.

“We are obviously saddened and deeply hurt,” Metzler said in the interview.

“The pain is awful, but we also have a wonderful hope and assurance that both of our kids are in heaven. They trusted Christ as their savior, and we feel a real peace for them.”

Wright said Friday that the investigation is still suffering from a lack of leads, and reiterated the possibility that the killing was a random act.

“As best we can tell, we don’t have any new evidence that points otherwise,” Wright said.

Wright said the sheriff’s office is still asking for calls from anyone who may have been in the area of the campground around the night of Aug. 27 or morning of Aug. 28.

“We’re still trying to speak with anyone who may have been in the area, regardless of whether they believe they saw anything,” he said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at (540) 382-2951.

- WSLS contributed to this report.