ROCKINGHAM COUNTY: It’s been six years since Michael and Mary Francis Short were brutally murdered inside their home in Bassett, Virginia. Their 9-year-old daughter, Jennifer, was later found dead in North Carolina, about 40 miles from the Short family residence.
Authorities are still searching for clues as to why someone would kill an entire family of three.
On the morning of August 15, 2002, an employee of the Short family’s mobile home moving business found Michael lying on a couch inside the garage. Michael appeared to have one gunshot wound to the head. The employee rushed to call authorities from Michael’s cell phone. When detectives arrived, they found Mary lying on her bed inside the bedroom, with one gunshot wound to the head. Jennifer was nowhere to be found.
After more than a month of intense search efforts, authorities discovered Jennifer’s skeletal remains near a stream in Rockingham County, North Carolina. She also appeared to have been shot once in the head.
The chief medical examiner’s office determined the gunshot wounds were from a .22 caliber firearm. Further investigation revealed no signs of forced entry into the Short’s home and no signs of struggle on the part of the victims. This led authorities to believe Michael and Mary were shot while sleeping.
Eight years prior to their death, Michael and Mary Short began their own mobile home moving business. Michael was responsible for coordinating the mobile home moves while Mary mostly performed bookkeeping responsibilities. Jennifer was described as an exceptional student who was involved in a number of extracurricular activities.
During the investigation, the Henry County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia and the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina joined forces with several federal agencies, including the FBI and Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In 2005, the group was converted to a federal task force known as the Jennifer Renee Short Homicide/Abduction Task Force. To date, members of this federal task force have exhausted more than 3,000 leads and processed more than 1,000 pieces of evidence.
The motive behind these killings still remains a mystery. Who was the intended target? Was it one of the Short’s or was it all three? And why was Jennifer’s body discarded in North Carolina?
The unsolved Short family homicide will be featured on NC WANTED in the coming months. Stay tuned to Fox 50 Saturdays after the 10 o'clock news.
If you have any information about this case, call NC WANTED toll free at 1.866.43.WANTED (1.866.439.2683) or click on "Report a Tip" Your identity can be kept confidential.
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