Was the murder of two VA Tech students the work of a serial killer?

The bodies of Virginia Tech students David Lee Metzler, 19, and Heidi Lynn Childs, 18, were discovered on the morning of August 27, 2009, at the Caldwell Fields Campground, located off of US 460. The pair were shot to death.

Metzler’s body was found inside his 1992 Toyota, while Childs’ was found outside. Their murder occurred sometime between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.

The campsite is a popular destination for Virginia Tech students, and the apparent random nature of the crime has police worried.

The day after the couple was murdered, Montgomery County Sheriff Tommy Whitt said: “We are going to step up our patrols in that area even though we think it was a random act of brutal violence.”

Sheriff Whitt described the double-murder as “brutal and ugly.”

Though police are searching for several persons of interest who were seen in the area, they have given no details or descriptions of the individuals.

Both Metzler and Childs were sophomores. Childs’ father is a Virginia State Trooper.

What little evidence there is, points to the possibility of the killer being someone posing as law enforcement.

Metzler was shot through the driver’s side window, which could suggest that he sat in the car while being approached by a person he thought to be a police officer. Childs was shot outside the automobile, more than likely as she tried to run away.

Between 1986-1989, there were eight bodies found at different points along Virginia’s Colonial Parkway. They were all killed in pairs, they were all young, and in some of the cases, the victims’ car was found with the driver’s side window rolled partially down.

The case which has come to be known as the Colonial Parkway Murders has never been solved. Authorities believed that the killer was either a police officer or security guard, or someone posing as such.

This month marks 20 years since the last couple (Annamaria Phelps, 18, and Daniel Lauer, 21) were found murdered on the Colonial Parkway.

In serial killings, there is often a long period of inactivity. This happens because the person has moved away, has tried to stop, or is sent to prison for another crime. No murders, for instance, had been attributed to Dennis Rader, known as the BTK Killer for 14 years before his arrest in 2005.

Anyone with information on the murder of David Metzler and Heidi Childs is urged to contact the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office at 540-382-2951.

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