"Person of interest" sought after 5 found slain in Georgia

LAGRANGE, Ga. - Authorities say they are searching for a "person of interest" after five people were found slain inside a home in west Georgia.

Investigators are looking for a 26-year-old identified as Thomas Jesse Lee, who may be driving an olive green Mazda Tribute, the Troup County Sheriff's Office said Sunday.

The five bodies were found after 10 p.m. Saturday, The LaGrange Daily News reported. Troup County Sheriff James Woodruff said four were family members. The fifth was a friend who recently moved into the home.

The victims were identified as William Burton, 69; Shiela Burton, 68; Christie Lee, approximately 33; Tiaonna Green, 18; and Bailey Burton, 16, according to CBS Atlanta affiliate WGCL. The bodies were reportedly found when police conducted a welfare check at the home. Each had been shot to death.

The bodies were discovered after the employer of one of the victims called 911 and said the man had not shown up for work for several days, Woodruff said.

"In law enforcement, you see bad things every day," Woodruff told the LaGrange newspaper. "But I've never seen a crime scene like this in my 25 years or so in law enforcement."

The home is about 80 miles southwest of Atlanta, just east of the Alabama state line.

Investigators said they were combing through cellphone records in an attempt to locate the man they described as a person of interest.

"We're doing any tracks we can on the cellphone, any internet searches, social media searches for him and kind of coming up with a dead end right now," Smith told WSB-TV.