“These people appear to have been beaten and shot,” said the sheriff. “I’ve been to many murder scenes in my life and this is among the worst I’ve ever been to.”
The sheriff’s office identified the three victims as Damion Tillman, 23, Keven Springfield, 30, and Brandon Rollins, 27. Judd said agents believe there are likely multiple suspects.
One of the victims, likely Tillman, first arrived on the scene and died when the other two victims arrived in a van, the sheriff said.
“They were shot,” he said. “But this is what the killers did not count: that one of our victims, Brandon Rollins, was able to call his father and say ‘help’.”
Rollins’ father was sleeping at his home about 10 minutes away and drove to the scene as soon as he received the call, Judd said. But after leaving his cell phone at home, he returned to a local store for help.
Rollins’ father came and found his son, who was still alive and was able to speak briefly to him before succumbing to his injuries, Judd said.
‘You don’t run into someone here’
While authorities generally wait several days to offer a reward, the sheriff said $ 5,000 was immediately offered to anyone who has a tip leading to an arrest.
“The victims, their parents and their families deserve that we resolve this sooner rather than later,” said Judd.
Officials do not yet know if the suspects knew the victims, the sheriff said, but added, “Our intuition tells us that you don’t run into someone here.”
“This is a dirt road, a dirt and dirt road in the middle of what we call God’s country,” he said. “It’s not that there are a lot of people around here. As you can see, they are grasslands for cows and lakes.”
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