Georgia Trailer Park Murderer Likely on the Loose

Aug. 30, 2009— -- The man who called 911 about a mass killing at a Georgia mobile home park is under arrest on drug and other charges, but police said today that whoever carried out the horrific crime is likely still on the loose.

"There is somebody out there we're looking for," Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said today. We just don't know who that person is."

Seven people were dead and two were critically injured when police arrived on the scene Saturday, but today another person died, bringing the death toll to eight, police said.

At a news conference this evening Doering identified the person who died today as 19-year-old Michael Toler, but did not say how the man died or identify any of the other victims.

He also announced a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

Guy Heinze Jr., 22, the man who called 911, was charged with drug possession and making false statements to police. He is accused of possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, tampering with evidence, and obstruction of an officer, which is related to making false statements to police.

"We have evidence he lied to us about the investigation and facts about it, and also he tampered with evidence from the crime scene," Doering said.

Heinze is a relative of one of the victims, and the police chief said he was not being charged in the killings. He said police have not identified a suspect yet.

"Be aware. Be alert. Don't think it's OK, because it ain't," Doering said. "There's an individual we would like to know about that's not at the scene."

Guy Heinze Jr., 22, the man who called 911, was charged with drug possession and making false statements to police. He is accused of possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, tampering with evidence, and obstruction of an officer, which is related to making false statements to police.

"We have evidence he lied to us about the investigation and facts about it, and also he tampered with evidence from the crime scene," Doering said.

Heinze is a relative of one of the victims, and the police chief said he was not being charged in the killings. He said police have not identified a suspect yet.

"Be aware. Be alert. Don't think it's OK, because it ain't," Doering said. "There's an individual we would like to know about that's not at the scene."

The police chief said he is "confident" the killer will be caught in what local authorities are calling the worst mass slaying they have ever seen, but warned residents to be on the lookout.

"Everyone needs to be cautious," he said. "I would not rule out anything right now. I wish I could say differently."

Early Saturday, investigators found the nine victims near the center of the New Hope Plantation trailer park. Police have yet to release many details in the case, including the identities or ages of the victims and how they died.

But today, Doering indicated that police know a bit more than they are saying.

"I am absolutely certain 100 percent what happened," Doering said. "Absolutely certain how it happened -- now the question is, who's responsible?"

He ruled out the killings as a murder-suicide, saying none of the victims were suspected of being involved in the murders.

Eight Dead at Georgia Trailer Park

Police searched the mobile home and the area around it for more clues today, and they also searched an area 2 miles around the trailer and another location 15 miles away, but Doering did not give any details.

On Saturday, Doering said the victims ranged from a young age to "a very old age." Autopsies were under way Sunday on the seven people found dead.

Jimmy Durben, a director at the Glynn County coroner's office, who was at the crime scene, told ABC News affiliate WJXX-TV in Jacksonville, Fla., that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab will determine the cause of death of the seven people, because it was not immediately apparent.

He described the crime as brutal and called it "the worst crime scene I have ever witnessed in my 17-year history in the coroner's office."

"It's normally pretty quiet around here," a resident of the trailer park told WJXX-TV. "Everybody gets along ... it's a little disturbing."

Another resident of New Hope, Lisa Vizcaino, told The Associated Press that the mobile home park tends to be quiet.

"New Hope isn't rundown or trashy at all," Vizcaino said. "It's the kind of place where you can actually leave your keys in the car and not worry about anything."

She said that once news of the slayings spread around the trailer park, everybody was "pretty much on lockdown."

"Everybody had pretty much stayed in their houses," Vizcaino said. "Normally you would see kids outside."

Eight Dead at Georgia Trailer Park

Police were working on leads to identify suspects, the chief said. The two injured victims were listed in critical condition at a Savannah hospital, according to investigators.

About 20 detectives have been assigned to the case and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is assisting in the probe, Doering said.

New Hope, the trailer park where the bodies were found, is a 1,100-acre tract in a town just north of Brunswick, a port city about 100 miles north of Jacksonville.