Officials: Body Found In West Virginia May Be Jennifer Short

WXII-TV, Winston-Salem, NC ^ | September 26, 2002

[Shermy]

CALDWELL, W. Va. -- West Virginia state police said they found a body of a young person in a wooded area of the Greenbrier Forest State Park Thursday in Greenbrier County.

Greenbrier State Forest is located in southeastern West Virginia, near Lewisburg and White Sulphur Springs.

Investigators said the body is of the age and size of missing 9-year-old Jennifer Short (pictured, left).

The decomposed body has been sent to the medical examiner's office in Charleston, W. Va., according to officials.

Investigators hope an autopsy will tell them whether the body found is Jennifer.

Officials said the decomposed body appears to be that of a young girl.

Authorities continue to investigate Wednesday's discovery of a portion of a small skull and other bones in a wooded area about 30 miles south of the Short home in Rockingham County.

Jennifer disappeared last month after her parents were slain in their Henry County home.

[Shermy]

[Shermy]

Ping.

[A_perfect_lady]

Poor little thing. When my baby sister was growing up I was in terror every time she was out of my sight, there are so many sick, twisted perverts out there. I wish we could rid our society of these creatures who prey on children. But we all wish that.

[Ciexyz]

Let there be closure for Jennifer's grieving relatives.

[kayak]

All these reports of remains of young girls being found is really scary but hopefully there will be some answers for some families as a result of this. I can't imagine the horrors of having your child just disappear and never knowing what happened to her ..... or him.

[Shermy]

Ping.

LE never released the name of the possible suspect, the one that harassed Mrs. Short. Maybe they did want to anger him, in hopes the girl was still alive.

And that piece of skull story earlier today - what a coincidence. They determined it was not Jennifer's.

[FlyVet]

It would help if we'd stop letting them out of jail. In a local case last week, a man who spent 20 years in the slammer for kidnapping and raping a little girl, and released 3 years ago, was sentenced again for: you guessed it, kidnapping and molesting a little girl. It's a wonder he didn't kill either one of them.

[NMFXSTC]

(I think I catch the handle)...Know all those bleeding hearts who want to reab these perps?...They are one of the reasons for some of these crimes...sex pervs do NOT get better!

Wanna trim the ranks of these low lifes? Easy...one of the largets groups in the country who really hates child molestors or child abusers is in front of you every day...tyhose aging, long haired, bikers! Give them immunity and turn them loose on the perps and those with a history...problem solved!

[ladylib]

If the skull wasn't Jennifer's whose was it? Somebody went missing. Perhaps it's the skull of a child who was never reported to be missing.

[Lion's Cub]

When they said the microscopic exam of the hair indicated it wasn't her, that was my thought also--that the skull had to belong to some child. The good thing is that with DNA, they should be able to eventually identify the child.

I couldn't help wondering if it was some child from Florida--their child protective services seems to be so screwed up. It's hard to believe that there isn't something more than mismanagement going on there.

[ladylib]

I live in NJ. About ten years ago, a decomposed body of an infant was discovered at the foot of the Palisades (the cliffs that border the Hudson River). There was just a tiny article in our county newspaper and that was the end of it. Can you imagine? An infant's body discovered at the foot of the Palisades and no one was interested enough to find out why. The paper said something about the child could have been used in some sort of sacrifice.

[kayak]

The only report I've seen about it said that the only missing person in the area (in NC where the remains were found) was a 30 y/o woman. I suppose if she were quite small, her remains could be mistaken for a child ...... or, most likely, it is someone from another area. That is so sad.

[FormerLurker]

The paper said something about the child could have been used in some sort of sacrifice.

Around there it would be no small surprise. The "LEO"s are in on it.

[ladylib]

What are LEO's.

[Illbay]

With respect, "closure" is psycho-babble bullsh*t. There is NEVER closure in this world.

Ask anyone who has ever buried a loved one who is the victim of violent crime, and later watched the murderer go down. The pain doesn't go away because of "closure."

It ABATES only with time. And the strength of faith can diminish it significantly.

But there is no such thing as "closure."

[Illbay]

"Law Enforcement Organizations", i.e. police, sheriff, etc.

Pay no attention to that crab-apple.

[ladylib]

People talk of "closure" as if you close a door to a room and that's the end of it. There's no automatic "forgiveness" either. I can't stand people who talk about "forgiveness" as if it's a given. God forgives, I'm too weak to.

[GummyIII]

LE never released the name of the possible suspect, the one that harassed Mrs. Short. Maybe they did want to anger him, in hopes the girl was still alive. And that piece of skull story earlier today - what a coincidence. They determined it was not Jennifer's.

Thanks for the heads-up. I hope Jennifer is still alive, I think. Sometimes death isn't the worst thing that can happen.

[Illbay]

I think we ought to forgive. However, the definition is garbled by many, who think it means you pretend it never happened.

For instance, I know someone whose son murdered someone. The family of the victim forgave him, but the murderer went to the death chamber because this was the punishment fixed for the act that he committed.

[Eala]

I think we ought to forgive. However, the definition is garbled by many, who think it means you pretend it never happened.

I'm happy to see there's at least one other Freeper who understands this. (From one who's had a hard struggle to forgive...)