An entire family’s secret has been extinguished in an execution-style murder after a child’s skeletal remains and teeth are found

The mystery surrounding the executive slaughter of an entire family has deepened after the skeletal remains of a child were discovered.

Twenty years ago, the bodies of Micheal and Mary Short were found by one of their employees – and their nine-year-old daughter was missing.

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The couple were shot in the head and left for dead at their home in Oak Level, Virginia, but Jennifer was nowhere to be found.

Six weeks later, her remains were discovered under a bridge in Rockingham County, North Carolina, about 45 minutes from where her parents were killed.

The little girl’s remains were found by a horrified family who discovered the human teeth and skull fragments on their property.

In the podcast “Who Killed Jennifer Short?” Lisa Albert-Vaughn recalled initially thinking the teeth belonged to some kind of wild animal.

It was only when the family’s dogs were playing with what they thought was a turtle shell that her husband called the police to investigate because he had a feeling something was wrong.

“He said [the officer] I’m afraid that’s not a turtle shell, that’s a skull,” Albert-Vaughn said.

In the time since the grisly discovery, the family’s triple murders have remained unsolved for twenty years.

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page said, “We’ve received more inquiries about this particular case than I’ve seen in my entire law enforcement career,” reported WXII-TV.

“I can’t imagine what the Short family and loved ones went through. But we have been in touch and will keep in touch,” he said at the annual commemoration motorcycle ride in her memory.

“I consider you all family because you helped keep the dream of this investigation and the resolution of this case alive.”

‘HOLD ON TO THE DREAM’

After a relentless investigation since the first 911 call and countless interviews, Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry still hoped the case would be solved.

“Positive things have come out and are still coming out and they’ve confirmed some things,” Perry told the crowd on Saturday.

“We still hope that one day we can say that someone has been held accountable.”

Both sheriffs worked on the cold case for two decades, but no arrests were made.

But last year, a task force revived the case involving members of the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, the North Carolina and Virginia State Police and the FBI.

We still hope that one day we can say that someone has been held accountable.

Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry

There was a break in the case in 2009 when the FBI released a suspicious sketch in the Short murders, originally reported by the Winston-Salem Journal.

Witnesses at the RV park, which Short owned and operated, said they saw a man.

He is believed to be in his mid to late 40s at the time and was in a white pickup truck on the night of the murder.

Oak Level, Virginia, has a population of 466, according to information obtained by an online census reporter for the state of Virginia.

If you have information about this case, contact the FBI hotline at 1-800-225-5324 or call Crime Stopper at 276-632-7463 or 336-349-9683.

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