Cops Find Van as Kids Cope With Killings
Men spotted in van sought after parents of approximately 16 kids shot dead.
July 11, 2009 — -- Police believe they have found the red van spotted at the home of a Florida couple killed Thursday as their adopted special needs children slept in the house, and authorities are questioning "persons of interest" with ties to the van.
Meanwhile, nine children who were living under the couple's care are recovering from the tragedy with relatives, a spokesman for the family said.
"They are surrounded by many family and friends," said John Markham, whose brother is married to the second oldest sister in the large family of the two victims, Byrd "Bud" Billings and Melanie Billings of Beulah, Fla., a rural area west of Pensacola, Fla., near the Alabama border.
In all, the Billings were parents of 16 children, many of them adopted kids with developmental disabilities.
"The [nine] children have not been separated nor will they be," Markham added. "They had a plan in place in the event [of] something happening to the parents. That plan will be fully executed to the best of the family's ability."
Police had asked local residents to be on the lookout for a red, late-1970s or early-'80s model van that was seen on the Billings' video surveillance system driving away from the scene of the crime. A statement on the Escambia County Sheriff's Office said officials sought three white males spotted in the van, though police would not specify the suspects' gender in later comments.
Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said this evening that tips from the public helped police find what they believe is the same van and its possible occupants.
He said the rapidity of the crime and the video of the van suggested that the killers were experienced.
"It suggests experience to me," the sheriff said, "the rapidity of this crime -- in and out" of the couple's home.
But, he added, police "have yet to determine a reason for, specifically, why the Billings were targeted."
Police found the Billings' bodies shot multiple times after they were summoned to the sprawling house in a rural area shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday.
The well-to-do Billings raised adoptees, many born to drug-addicted mothers and some with Down syndrome, along with their four biological children from previous marriages, according to reports.
Several children -- police were quoted saying there were eight ranging in age from 8 to 14, while Markham said there were nine children living at the home ranging from 3 to 11 -- were found unharmed inside the house, some of them still asleep, authorities said. Police reportedly were responding to a 911 call by a neighbor.
Markham and the Billings' daughter, Ashely, who is married to Markham's brother, said they were certain no Billings kids were connected to the crime, and that there were no additional family members home at the time of the killing.
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