Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
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Wednesday, August 8, 2007
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
The past four summers, Ray Reynolds and scores of volunteers have devoted one day to honoring the memory of Jennifer Renee Short. This summer is no exception.
“There’s still unfinished business,” Reynolds said of the reason behind the fifth annual Jennifer Short Memorial Ride, which will be held Sunday.
Jennifer was 9 years old when she disappeared and was presumed kidnapped after the shooting deaths of her parents, Michael and Mary Short, in their home in the Oak Level area of Henry County in August 2002.
Jennifer’s remains were found the following month in Rockingham County, N.C. Police determined that she, like her parents, had been shot in the head.
Reynolds lived across the street from the Shorts, and he said he saw Jennifer the night before her parents were killed.
That memory, coupled with the fact that no one has been charged in connection with the killings, prompt Reynolds to help organize the ride in Jennifer’s memory year after year with Ricky “Big Bird” Holcomb.
“No one’s been charged yet,” Reynolds said, and he hopes to continue the event until a killer is brought to justice.
The ride brings attention to the Short slayings, he said. It also raises money for the Jennifer Short Scholarship Fund, which awards a $500 scholarship to a college-bound Bassett High School student. Jennifer would have attended Bassett High.
The Bassett Kiwanis Club typically awards the scholarship to the student with the highest grade point average who plans to come back to this area to teach after college, Reynolds said.
This year’s 35-mile ride will be held Sunday at Super Country 99 (formerly B99) on U.S. 220. Registration will begin at 11 a.m., and the ride will begin at 1 p.m.
The cost is $10 per bike or vehicle, he said.
Participants will head south on U.S. 220 to the Virginia/North Carolina state line. They will take Exit 135 in Rockingham County and turn right at the first light.
From there, participants will turn left on Dan Valley Road, left on River Road and left on Grogan Road, which is near the Jennifer Short Bridge and where her remains were found, for a moment of silence.
Participants then will return to Henry County, and the ride will end at Piedmont Motor Sports (formerly Jimmy’s Cycle Sales), Reynolds said.
Churches, civic organizations and any other groups are invited to participate in the ride, he said.
“Donations are down this year, and we need all the donations we can get and all the help we can get,” he added.
Anyone with information about the August 2002 killings is asked to call the Henry County Sheriff’s Office at 638-8751 or 911. A reward is available. |
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