Townspeople Mourn Jennifer Short

A minister encouraged townspeople to find peace in their hearts and in God on Saturday as relatives, friends and law enforcement officers gathered for the funeral of 9-year-old Jennifer Short.

"Questions will always be there, and questions are OK," the Rev. Kevin English told the packed Martinsville Church of God. "She is truly under the shadow of his wings, safe from harm."

Police discovered the bodies of Jennifer's parents, Michael and Mary Short, on Aug. 15 in their Bassett home. The parents had been shot to death, but Jennifer was missing.

Pieces of a skeleton were found nearly six weeks later in Rockingham County, N.C. DNA tests ruled that the remains were Jennifer's, and that she had been shot in the head.

No one has been arrested. Canadian officials have said they plan to deport a North Carolina man, Garrison Storm Bowman, whom investigators want to question in the deaths.

According to court documents, Bowman had threatened to kill a Virginia man with whom he was having a dispute about moving his mobile home. Michael and Mary Short owned a mobile home moving business.

All three ministers who spoke at Jennifer Short's funeral urged residents to release the grief and sorrow that they have been holding in their hearts. They also commended the efforts of the Henry County Sheriff's Department and Sheriff Frank Cassell to find the girl and solve the crimes.

Cassell and several of his deputies were pallbearers and sat next to the family.

"For several weeks now, we've all held out hope that Jennifer was well," the Rev. Morris Fleischer said. "Hope seemed lost until reality set in. Jennifer is safe now. Those words ring in my ears now, Sheriff Cassell. Thank you."

English told the officers, "You probably went above and beyond the call of duty. When you took the job you took an oath to protect all men equally, and I think you did that. I encourage you to seek peace."

Friends and neighbors wept as slides showed glimpses of the girl's brief life: Jennifer playing with a dog and cat, Jennifer only recently holding a baseball bat. A slide also showed the Short's house a few weeks ago with yellow and white flowers and teddy bears on the lawn.

Those flowers are gone now. They have been replaced by a floral black and white cross on the Short's front lawn and a similar wreath on the side of the house.

Betty Martin of Martinsville joined many of the mourners at Henry Burial Park after the funeral service.

"I hope that when they put Jennifer's body by those of her parents that it will bring closure of some sort," she said. "But until they find who or what did this, I think it will be hard for everyone."