Who Killed Taylor Placker and Skyla Whitaker?
UPDATE 6/13/08 - Investigators have released a sketch of a possible suspect based on witness statements who say they saw a man outside a white pickup truck in the middle of the road around the time the girls were killed. The man is described as 6 feet tall, about 35 years old, native American with a long black ponytail and wearing a baseball cap. The reward for information leading to an arrest in this case is now over $30,000.
Taylor Dawn Paschal-Placker and Skyla Jade Whitaker
Weleetka, OK - It’s a small town in the middle of nowhere, ninety miles east of Oklahoma City. The kind of place where nobody would worry too much about two girls going out for a walk, even young girls. And when they don’t come home right away, parents don’t think “murdered”, they think “grounded”. But murder is what happened to Taylor Dawn Paschal-Placker, 13, and Skyla Jade Whitaker, 11, on Sunday evening.
At about 5:30 Sunday afternoon, the two girls went for a walk down toward a bridge near Taylor’s home. When they didn’t come back, Taylor’s grandfather went looking for them - and found Taylor and Skyla lying face down in a roadside ditch, killed by multiple gunshot wounds. The girls were fully clothed, and there were no apparent signs of sexual assault, although autopsies have not yet been completed.
Taylor was a sweet, studious girl who had been home schooled until her family moved to Weleetka. Raised by her grandparents, she made good grades and had been elected queen in an elementary school contest in the fifth grade. As a sixth-grader, she was the only girl in her class - that’s how small Weleetka is.
Skyla wanted to be a veterinarian. A tall brunette, she was an outgoing fifth grader who played basketball. She had been over at Taylor’s house for a sleepover, and the girls often took walks together.
Even though the shots were fired about a quarter-mile or so from the Placker home, windy conditions kept anyone at the house from hearing the shots.
“They were little girls, what possible motive could there be?” asked Okfuskee County Sheriff Jack Choate. “You have to wonder, did they see something they were not supposed to? Were they at the wrong place at the wrong time?”
As of right now, nobody really knows. Tire tracks and ballistics evidence are being tested, and the girls’ families are struggling with questions which have no answers as yet. I’ll be updating as information comes in.
Anyone who wants to donate to the funeral costs can do so. The fund is set up at the Weleetka Commerce Bank.
Sketch released by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation on Friday, June 13 of possible person of interest in the girls’ murders.
Updates:
I am always 3 steps ahead……the just hate that too!
I would really like to know what happened, I hope they figure this out soon!
My son (12) has myspace he barely uses it logs on maybe 1x a month. He does go to club penguin a lot, I have logged on and acted played a bit (boring) but there is chat. My girlfriends daughter goes to horse land, I think that’s the name, she’s 11, and that has chat. There are a lot of sites where predators can target these kids, we have to really be on our kids.
I didn’t want my son chatting his friends were he felt left out I finally gave in. We discussed not giving out info. & not meeting people, etc…
I worry, but also think I would worry more if I had girls!
they are saying right now that both girls were shot by both weapons…..i guess that’s how they concluded there was 2 shooters? unless they were shot from far away with high caliber and then finished of with the low caliber?………the osbi dude is not giving much info about the witness.
i think they know something…..they were way to vague on answering the questions……that pc was pointless really but just to say they interviewed someone that saw the girls just before they were killed?…..he said they know the weapons and so do the killers so when they slip up and tell someone, or they interview them they will know….or some shiot like that…..lol.
I hope I’ve scared him with all the stories. We were at KFC the other night after practice waiting for our food. Some dude was asking him about baseball and stuff. Just general conversation, the dude said “were do you play?”…….i could understand that because there are several organizations around us……my son without hesitating said some random park……..as we were walking out, he said to me “i didn’t want to tell him where we play so i just made it up”…..i thought, that’s my boy!!!
Does anyone know just how remote this area is? Initial news reports said that it was farm/ranch land and that houses were quite spread apart. Is that accurate?
I’m just curious because if this was a dirt road out in the country, just how much traffic could it have gotten? Especially in a teeny little town like that. I grew up in an equally small town in New Mexico. Dirt roads in the middle of nowhere got very very little traffic.
Anyway, my initial gut-reaction to this is that some drunk teens were out fucking around and shot those girls because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. My best friend and I used to walk everywhere together. Just because they were out walking, I wouldn’t assume that they were meeting someone.
Not trying to argue - just throwing out another suggestion.
I have lived around there for 22 years of my life and the road is pretty remote, but it is well known by locals and people do go out there to hang out around the bridge and stuff. Alot of people are thinking that it was some drunk teens. I absolutely cannot wait until they find the killer(s) to these 2 precious angels.
Oklahoma police said Thursday that they’ve interviewed a witness who drove by two girls minutes before they were shot dead along a country road.
“We can let you know — and the shooters out there — that we do have a witness that was there shortly before the shooting,” Special Agent Ben Rosser of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said at an afternoon news conference.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,365902,00.html
There is also a $25K reward that is said to be growing. If it was “drunk teens” or a “thrill kill” the 25 will bring out the perps. Sombody will brag or tell.
R
I agree. People who would do such a thing, will turn on each other for 25K and a lot less usually. And as to the bragging part, you know it. People cannot keep their mouths shut.
If I had kids, I think they’d not be on the internet at all. At least not chatting and posting info about themselves. The internet is a big, open window to the world with “Come on in and meet my kids” written below it. So what if other kids are doing it — if other kids were jumping off a cliff, would you let yours jump?
i’m watching the news conference….they showed a sketch!!!!! I’ll get back to you when it’s over
i’m really bad at quoting so i’m just going to summerize……they have witnesses that heard gunshots…..they have witnesses that saw a guy described as 35 something, american indian, 6ft tall with a black ponytail standing next to his truck on the county road near where the girls were found….they didn’t say if it was before or after the shots were heard. They said he is only a person of interest that could be a witness….they said he was parked in the middle of the road outside his truck…..they said they have over 100 leads……..reward is just over $30k now…….i was thinking that if the girls were shot multiple times that SOMEONE woulda heard it…..right?
article updated with info from live press conference. As soon as i get the sketch, i’ll post it, but was listening and didn’t want to pause live for a screen cap
Sketch of person of interest:
What about these witnesses? I hate to be the turd in the punch bowl, but why not two suspects? While this dude or whoever could have had two guns on them, I think there were two shooters.
I’m just wondering if the “witnesses” could be the offenders since they didn’t name or say anything about a second person, if initial reports are correct about more than one attacker?
Well, there’s that, too, y’know. I mean, it seems very likely that this guy is either just a witness, or one of two shooters, or doesn’t exist because he was made up by some people who know what happened.
It’s possible, though, that one guy was holding two guns. What if he shot each girl with the first gun one after the other, very fast, then pulled out the other gun to finish the job at closer range?
If the girls were shot twice each in the chest with the large caliber weapon, fell, and then were shot in the head with the smaller weapon, that smacks of military training and one perpetrator could have pulled that off easily, even with two moving targets.
Right and then the obvious question remains….why?? I mean some native american dude is stopped in the middle of the road and sees 2 little girls and thinks “hey, I feel like shooting them with both my guns just for shits and giggles”? This is a weird one and it seems like they died in a spot it would have taken them 30 minutes to walk to right? They were only gone 30 minutes before grandpa went looking and found them. I just feel like something isn’t fitting here but I hope they find the person or persons soon.
i’m still following this one too ya’ll…………nothing new really but here’s a story that says a few interesting things….
http://newsok.com/help-with-case-comes-across-boundary-lines/article/3260415/?tm=1214085708
i never remember them saying they were found face down….that’s the first time i’ve seen that…..also, they say there may be a big break soon…..fingers crossed!!!!
Now that’s what I’m thinking, as well. Sure, its possible one man had two guns. But I’m leaning with the “one of two shooters” or “someone who doesn’t exist at all” versions of the story. What better alibi than, “Officer, officer I saw the whole thing.” I mean, I understand that this wasn’t the exact witness account, but you get what I’m saying.
And, Imp, your military comment is dead on. My gut is just leading me away from “one shooter, two guns”. I really think two people pulled this crime. Now, I don’t have any reason why I feel that way. I just do.
And a point momof4 made, the girls usually went for walks together. They had walked to this place before. If grandpa or no one else in the family DID NOT hear guns shots, then why, with the girls only being gone 30 minutes did grandpa get so concerned and start looking for them? I wouldn’t have expected for girls going for a walk to be back in 30 minutes, anyway, unless they had specific instructions to return that quickly. So what gives with that?
they have several witnesses on the guy in the white truck….also, grandpa went to look for them because skylar’s mom was coming to pick her up….so he called taylor’s cell phone and she didn’t answer so he went looking for them
Thanks for that info.
Maybe whoever shot the girls didn’t necessarily know them, maybe he drove by and pulled out a gun and told the girls to get in the car or he would shoot. And the girls tried to run away, and so he and maybe another person in the car shot them??
Just a good a theory as any. I’ll tell you this, though. Either this was COMPLETELY random, or this is one investigative team that is ill-equipped to handle this type of crime.
I just cannot imagine that this much time has passed and NO ONE has talked which to me, seems to rule out any teens just fucking around with guns. But who knows?
I’ll go with that, too. It also lends credit to their being one shooter. Two people keeping their mouths shut for this long is practically unheard of.
Seriously, if I murder anyone, NO ONE will ever know but me and the victim. Don’t worry, I’m not a murderer. Just sayin’
Have there been any updates to this case? Did they find the man in the white truck?
O.K. I keep trying to post a link on here and it just isn’t letting it go thru. If you go to cnn.com and then to crime you can hear a portion of the 911 call on this case. It’s really heartbreaking.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/21/oklahoma.girls/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
R
That tape is just heartbreaking. That poor woman in the middle of a nightmare situation that won’t ever end. Who could have killed these kids?
Thanks for posting that link Harley, i had forgotten about this case. This needs to be solved, asap.
Thanks Harley and your magic powers!! I tried several times to link both the story and the video and I couldn’t get the comment with the link to go thru. You’re awesome!!
I saw this sketch when I was reading about the Dr in Florida - pretending to be a cop and I think he was caught with several DUI’s and prescription drugs… but all I seen was the sketch no story…
http://crimeshadowsnews.com/main/2008/05/01/the-doctors-orders-dr-ecklinds-agenda/ (there is one if you click the link)
I’m glad to see that someone has stepped up and took charge… I hope they find this bastard retard that has done this to these lil’girls.
We have a killer on the loose and they are hardly getting any media coverage… this should be headline news all over the place… really pisses me off why some stories get all the attention and others get pushed aside.
** Someone needs to come forward !!!
Thanks Holy for the update and Harley for the link
read full story : http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/21/oklahoma.girls/index.html#cnnSTCText
http://www.news9.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=2578404&h1=Families%20of%20Weleetka%20girls%20mourning%20their%20loss&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=126133&LaunchPageAdTag=Station%202&activePane=info&rnd=90045828
Just making sure these two little girls are not forgotten.
If anyone has updates, I’d like to hear or see it.
Rest easy girls. The scumbags that did this to you can’t hide for ever.
R
Autopsy results have been released.
“Autopsies on two girls gunned down while walking on a country road show one had five gunshot wounds and the other had eight.”
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,400641,00.html
has anything else been heard about this tragic case?
And Tia Poklemba and Luis Ramizez. I know the trial of his killers is going on, but no news reports. As for poor Tia, I think her killer went to Mexico and disappeared. It seems to be the new place for killers to run.
I hope they catch these little girls’ killer. It would be so awful there was no justice in any of these three cases.
no new news locally, this case is only 6 months old..it isn’t cold yet. i have always been confused about how exact the details given for the person of interest seemed to be, yet the witness could not say whether the vehicle was a chevy or a ford. i hope some media exposure returns to bring light to these murders.