Katelyn Wolfe's Body Found, Two Arrested: 'They Knew What They Were Doing,' Police Chief Says
Katelyn Wolfe went missing on June 6, and her parents positively identified her body yesterday. Two men were arrested for her murder, though police have not said what led them to the particular suspects.
"It's death by asphyxiation," police chief Troy Jarrell said at a press conference yesterday, after the teen's parents identified her body.
Wolfe went missing after posing a message on her Facebook page: "Out to have some fun. Those creeps are following me."
Randal Crosley, 25, and Jordan Buskirk, 26, were taken into custody on charges of murder just after police announced they had found Wolfe's body in a "body of water in rural Sullivan County."
"Not going to speculate on motive at this point," Jarrell told NBC News. "Still way too early in the investigation to be doing that."
"They knew what they were doing all along," Jarrell then told ABC News. "We don't believe it was an accidental type of thing."
Both men have minor criminal records, but police are being tight-lipped about the charges and what led to their arrest yesterday. Jarrell would not confirm whether the men were "those creeps" that Wolfe described in her Facebook post.
Wolfe's murder stunned the small town of Linton, which has a population of just over 5,000.
"He's devastated," family spokesperson Lesa Lewellyn told NBC. "Katelyn was his only daughter. Katelyn's mother passed away – it'll be three years."
Now the family is faced with having to find the money to bury their loved one. Katelyn's father, Eric, is an artist who is now selling his works "in order for him to pay for his daughter's funeral because they don't have insurance," a family friend said.
"The six years that we've been here, he's had artwork up here and sold many paintings and I'm sure he never thought that he'd have to sell it to pay for a funeral," Denise York said.
"This is a tight, close knit community we have here," Jarrell told ABC. "There has been an overwhelming response from friends and relatives and acquaintances of Katelyn's that are willing to go out and help and have been very supportive of the family."
