Tenn. Pastor Found Killed, Family Missing
Thursday, March 23, 2006 2:10 PM EST
The Associated Press
By WOODY BAIRD
SELMER, Tenn. (AP) — A church minister was found shot to death in his parsonage, and authorities were searching for his missing wife and three young daughters Thursday.
"We're just really puzzled," Selmer Police Chief Neal Burks said Thursday. "We're concerned about the safety of the children, also."
Church members went searching for pastor Matthew Winkler late Wednesday when he didn't show up for an evening service at Fourth Street Church of Christ, Burks said. He said they used a key to enter the parsonage and found him dead in a bedroom.
Winkler, 31, had been shot, and his family was gone, Burks said.
The chief declined to say if Winkler's wife was considered a suspect. Investigators also weren't sure if she had the children or if any outsiders were involved in shooting and disappearance, he said.
According to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson, there were no signs of forced entry at the parsonage.
The bureau issued an Amber Alert early Thursday for the couple's daughters, Breanna, 1, Mary Alice, 6, and Patricia, 8. The alert said the girls may be with their mother, Mary Winkler.
Mary Winkler was last seen late Tuesday afternoon picking up the children from school, said Ed Jones, TBI assistant director. Burks said she worked as a substitute teacher at the elementary school.
"They were a nice family," said former Selmer Mayor Jimmy Whittington, who said he worked with the pastor collecting donations for hurricane victims last year. "They just blended in."
Arkansas and Kentucky state police said they were alerted to be on the lookout for the family's minivan but had had no sightings Thursday morning.
The family had been living in Selmer, a town of about 4,600 residents in western Tennessee, for about a year, Burks said.
Thursday, March 23, 2006 2:10 PM EST
The Associated Press
By WOODY BAIRD
SELMER, Tenn. (AP) — A church minister was found shot to death in his parsonage, and authorities were searching for his missing wife and three young daughters Thursday.
"We're just really puzzled," Selmer Police Chief Neal Burks said Thursday. "We're concerned about the safety of the children, also."
Church members went searching for pastor Matthew Winkler late Wednesday when he didn't show up for an evening service at Fourth Street Church of Christ, Burks said. He said they used a key to enter the parsonage and found him dead in a bedroom.
Winkler, 31, had been shot, and his family was gone, Burks said.
The chief declined to say if Winkler's wife was considered a suspect. Investigators also weren't sure if she had the children or if any outsiders were involved in shooting and disappearance, he said.
According to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson, there were no signs of forced entry at the parsonage.
The bureau issued an Amber Alert early Thursday for the couple's daughters, Breanna, 1, Mary Alice, 6, and Patricia, 8. The alert said the girls may be with their mother, Mary Winkler.
Mary Winkler was last seen late Tuesday afternoon picking up the children from school, said Ed Jones, TBI assistant director. Burks said she worked as a substitute teacher at the elementary school.
"They were a nice family," said former Selmer Mayor Jimmy Whittington, who said he worked with the pastor collecting donations for hurricane victims last year. "They just blended in."
Arkansas and Kentucky state police said they were alerted to be on the lookout for the family's minivan but had had no sightings Thursday morning.
The family had been living in Selmer, a town of about 4,600 residents in western Tennessee, for about a year, Burks said.
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