The Chatterbox, Volume 81, Issue 1, Oct. 15, 2002

Lost and found

Jennifer Short's mysterious disappearance comes to a chilling conclusion

BY LAILA HATOUM
REPORTER

Since the incident, FBI agents, state police, search and rescue crews, along with police from surrounding jurisdictions have come together to find the missing girl. The search can finally come to a stop.

Jennifer Short’s remains were recently discovered off Grogan Road near Stoneville, N.C. A medical examiner determined that she had been shot in the head like her parents had been. Investigators will now have to deal with a triple homicide. Her remains were found 1.5 miles from the mobile home of Garrison Storm Bowman, 60.

Bowman formerly of Mayodan, N.C., was arrested by Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Oct. 3 at his home in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada. He is being held in Yellowknife. Bowman has been charged with immigration violations and was questioned about how and when he came in to the country.

Police seized mattresses, cushions, blankets, sheets, samples of hair, a vacuum cleaner and telephone records from the trailer.

Family members, friends and the community at large had turned to fund raising to help raise reward money for tips leading to Jennifer’s whereabouts and information about her parents’ death. Currently the reward money offered by various funds totals more than $57,000. Jim Whitehead, Mary Short’s brother-in-law, started a fund in Martinsville to pay for Jennifer’s medical expenses. Rebe Sink, the daughter of her first cousin Michael Short, hopes that the fund raising money can help other missing children.

“I think it’s amazing how people came together for this. At least we can take comfort that everything possible was done,” says Cynthia Jones, English and government teacher.

Jennifer Short is just one of the many children who are kidnapped each year. Fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Smart of Salt Lake City was grabbed at gunpoint from her bed on June 5. She remains missing.

The FBI estimates that there are 3,000 to 5,000 abductions each year by “non-family members.” By comparison 150,000 attempted abductions fail each year.

“It scares me to death that there are so many kidnappings across the United States.” said Christine Gibson, world geography teacher. u