SEQUOYAH CO., Okla.—
Investigators with the Sequoyah County Sheriff's Office have been working almost non-stop since Wednesday in the murder of Shannon Southern.The 20-year-old Muldrow resident had been found dead in his house Tuesday morning by emergency crews, after a fire burned the home to the ground. The next day, word came down from the medical examiner's office that Southern hadn't died from the fire: he had been killed before it happened.
"We're trying to get with everybody he had contact with 48 hours before the fire, talking to friends and family and coworkers," said Sequoyah County Sheriff Ron Lockhart
Authorities have also been sifting through debris at Southern's home for clues. Sheriff Lockhart said Thursday that they have located several items that need further investigation.
"Everything that we've collected and recovered will be sent to the State Crime Lab for analysis and hopefully we'll get something back," he said.
Southern's murder is just one of several deaths being investigated out of eastern Oklahoma. The Le Flore County Sheriff's Office is still looking for leads in the murder of a Poteau bartender, Joe Neff, and the suspicious death of local mother, Jodi Rilee-Wilson, months after they were found dead.
"There's definitely a certain degree of frustration that mounts as you chase down all the leads and the trail gets colder," said Le Flore County Sheriff Bruce Curnutt.
Curnutt says his office is still investigating leads as they come in, but the break that would help them the most is for someone in the community with knowledge about the crime to come forward; and there's strong incentive for anyone that does.
"Both families have posted a $10,000 reward for information leading to the convictions of the person responsible for these deaths," he said.
But until that time, families in all three deaths are left with unanswered questions, while authorities hope the trails they're following don't go up in smoke. If you have any information about these three cases you're asked to call the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation's Tip Line at 1-800-522-8017.
