OT:Hate this stuff~ Saturday 7/11/09
Couple With 16 Children Found Slain By MELISSA NELSON, AP
posted:- Investigators asked the public to be on the lookout Friday for a red van they believe carried three men involved in the deaths of a Florida Panhandle couple who were shot in their rural home while eight of their children slept.
Surveillance cameras showed the van at the home of Byrd and Melanie Billings in Beulah, a rural area west of Pensacola near the Alabama border, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said. The children were unharmed.
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News That Stunned Us Pensacola News Journal52 photos Parents Slain: A Florida husband and wife were shot to death Thursday night during a home invasion, authorities said. Byrd and Melanie Billings had 16 children, 12 of them adopted. Police said eight of the kids were at home and asleep during the killings. The youngsters were not hurt.(Note: Please disable your pop-up blocker)
The sheriff's office released an enhanced but still grainy photograph of a red, 15-passenger van dating to the late 1970s or early '80s.
Morgan said investigators did not know who killed the wealthy couple known for adopting children with developmental disabilities, many born to drug-addicted mothers. But they said they wanted to question the three men suspected of involvement in the crime.
"It would be pure speculation. We see many random acts of violence now. We just don't know," he said.
Investigators are also awaiting autopsy results on the couple to learn more about the killings, he added.
Morgan said eight of the children, ages 8 to 14, were in the home when the couple was killed Thursday evening. A woman who lives in an outlying building and helps care for the children called emergency dispatchers from the home.
Deputies had to wake some of the children after they arrived, authorities said.
Investigators interviewed the children, who are now staying with other family members, Morgan said.
The Billings had 16 children, 12 of them adopted. They married 18 years ago and each had two children from previous marriages. The couple then began adopting children with developmental disabilities and other problems.
The couple owned several local businesses, including a fiance company and a used car dealership.
In a 2005 story in the Pensacola News Journal, the couple said they wanted to share their wealth with children in need, but didn't imagine their family would grow so large.
"It just happened," Melanie Byrd told the newspaper. "I just wanted to give them a better life."
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Eye on the NewsChris Helgren, Pool / AFP / Getty Images500 photos President Barack Obama looks at artwork as he arrives for an audience with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on July 10.(Note: Please disable your pop-up blocker)
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2009-07-10 15:53:48
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Sandbag 7
12:21 AMJul 11 2009
And they owned a fiance company; what kind of money do you make in that busuiness?
urn:x-aol:oid:mddn:5d14191e-6dd2-11de-bc27-bfda7b6c8a79 AVG RATING: (0) REPORT! rate this comment Ben josie
12:21 AMJul 11 2009
wat you want from black person, he want to steal somting
urn:x-aol:oid:mddn:5814936c-6dd2-11de-bd12-732f8dcb2666 AVG RATING: (0) REPORT! rate this comment I3evxox
12:21 AMJul 11 2009
shut the F up with all your Obama and political talk.. This article isn't about that. It's about one of the very few good people left in this world. Take your political talk to another site where it's intened to be.
urn:x-aol:oid:mddn:544d1c68-6dd2-11de-bd11-2f141fe76164 AVG RATING: (1) REPORT! rate this comment Staged18
12:20 AMJul 11 2009
STATED: Truly heartbreaking! Here you have a wealthy couple that actually does good with their money ................Yeah well lots of wealthy people do good things with their money. Who do you think pays the welfare in this Shi* hole nation you moron.
urn:x-aol:oid:mddn:2cb3db4c-6dd2-11de-bcb5-1f9f45447954 AVG RATING: (0) REPORT! rate this comment Twosweet4e
12:19 AMJul 11 2009
God is here to help us all.
urn:x-aol:oid:mddn:ff6c2aae-6dd1-11de-b01a-1371de35c2a5 AVG RATING: (1) REPORT! rate this comment LilFab369
12:18 AMJul 11 2009
Obama is the best president. Well at least 100 times better than Bush. And for all you dirty Republicans saying that Obama is a bad president, I think you should re-evaluate your sense of judgment because you voted for Bush and look what happened. Plus, you have another very "prominent" and "intelligent" member in your party...Sarah Palin. So if I were you I wouldnt be proud to be Republican. Also I find it interesting how all the stupid states like Alabama, Tenesse, and Kentucky voted Republican and the smart states like those in New England and California voted Democrat in the 2008 election.
Truly heartbreaking! Here you have a wealthy couple that actually does good with their money and help those in need and something like this happens.. Now what happens to these poor kids. Can anyone really take in 16 kids at once. How sad.
You think they will get the recognition they deserve? I bet they get nothing while they glorify M. Jackson. lol..yeah right.. They want to take away our guns so the criminals can kill us all off and take over...Arm yourselves people and don't take any crap from anyone anymore.
the person or persons who killed the couple, should be killed very slowing with enomous pain
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