Mother, daughter found shot to death

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--> <![endif]--> <![endif]--> <![endif]--> <![endif]-->

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--> <![endif]--> <![endif]--> <![endif]--> <![endif]-->Mother, daughter found shot to death

By TIM GULLA Ledger Staff Writer tim@gaffneyledger.com

Police tape stretched for hundreds of feet around a Buck Shoals Road property Wednesday afternoon as investigators searched for clues in the deaths of two women who apparently died by gunshots. Outside the home, Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton and county coroner Dennis Fowler declined to release the names of the victims or say what they thought happened inside, as the investigation was in the very early stages.

SLED joined in the investigation of two women found shot to death on Buck Shoals Road on Wednesday afternoon.

Crime scene specialists spent approximately two hours meticulously documenting and photographing everything they saw around the exterior and nearby grass field before they made entry to look at the interior. “We have two victims in the home,” Blanton confirmed. He said it appeared both had been shot. Family friends said the victims were mother and daughter, Hazel Linder and Gena Linder Parker. The Anderson Independent Mail also was able to verify the identity of Gena Parker as one of the victims through an Anderson School District 5 official who received confirmation through the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. Parker worked for the Anderson School District. Local officials would not confirm the identities as of late Wednesday afternoon. The deaths come just days after a prominent peach grower, Kline Cash, was shot and killed in his Battleground Road home only a few miles away. The short length of time between the three deaths and the relatively close proximity was not lost on passers-by, many of whom said they were shocked by the news and were vowing to protect themselves and their families. A sign a few hundred feet from the Buck Shoals Road home advertised hay for sale. The suspect in the death of Kline Cash reportedly visited Cash’s home last Saturday under the pretense of buying hay. Blanton said it was not known if the cases were connected in any way and that it was too early to speculate. “(The investigators will) be in there (the house) all day and all night and probably all day tomorrow,” Blanton said. An intense investigation already is underway in the death of Kline Cash and numerous investigators from the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division were in Cherokee County when the emergency call sounded from Buck Shoals Road. Spartanburg County and SLED investigators immediately joined the new probe. Blanton said the two victims were last seen at about 1 p.m. and were found dead at about 3:30 p.m. A witness told police that a blue van was seen leaving the driveway at about 3 p.m. Blanton said the make or model of the van wasn’t known. “It could be a neighbor visiting, a friend or relative, we don’t know,” He said. “It could be the suspect.” Anyone with information is asked to call police. The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office can be reached at 489-4722 or through 9-1-1. Coroner Dennis Fowler said an autopsy was planned and more information should be released by Thursday.