Sketch released in case of 2 Okla. girls slain

[June 14, 2008]  WELEETKA, Okla. (AP) -- Authorities released a sketch Friday of a "person of interest" investigators want to interview about the slayings of two girls along an eastern Oklahoma country road.

The man, looking "a little suspicious," was seen standing near a white pickup truck around the time and place the youngsters were shot to death on Sunday afternoon, said Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

He was described as an American Indian, about 6 feet tall, with black hair and a pony tail. He was driving in a white Ford or Chevrolet single cab pickup with chrome stripping and an Oklahoma license tag.

"We just want to talk to him," she said. "We think he might have seen something to resolve the case."

Several witnesses have come forward, with some saying they saw the man as they drove along the road where the girls were found and others saying they heard gunshots.

"He was stopped on the road, standing outside of his pickup truck doing something," Brown said. "It looked a little suspicious."

Friends and relatives attended funeral services for the girls Friday.

Services for Taylor Paschal-Placker, 13, took place at the First Baptist Church in Dewar. The funeral for Skyla Whitaker, 11, was held at the First Baptist Church in Henryetta.

The Rev. Ron King said Taylor's funeral was "the hardest thing I've ever done in my life."

"Do I have the words of comfort? No, I don't," King told mourners. "They were just babies. How do you make sense of this?"

Investigators say they have no explanation for why the girls were gunned down near the small town of Weleetka, a working-class community of 1,000 people, 70 miles south of Tulsa.

The girls, who were best friends, were shot a number of times in the head and chest with weapons of two different calibers, leading authorities to think two gunmen were involved.

Several motives have been explored, including a random thrill killing, attempted abduction, a case of mistaken identity and the possibility that the girls happened upon a crime in progress.

[Associated Press; By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS]

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