Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
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Martinsville, Virginia 24115
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| Raises awareness, funds in memory of slain family |
Sunday’s ride will be in memory of Mary and Michael Short (foreground) and their daughter, Jennifer, who were killed in 2002. |
Thursday, August 6, 2009
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
The purpose of the Jennifer Short Scholarship Car/Bike Ride is two-fold: It raises money to help local students, and it shows the community has not forgotten the brutal, unsolved slayings of an Oak Level girl and her parents.
The couple was found shot to death inside their Oak Level home on Aug. 15, 2002. Jennifer, their 9-year-old daughter, was missing at the time. Her remains were found near Grogan Road in Rockingham County, N.C., about six weeks later. All three died from single gunshot wounds to the head.
The ride, now in its seventh year, will be held Sunday, according to Ray Reynolds, who co-organizes the event with Ricky “Big Bird” Holcomb.
Registration will begin at 11 a.m. at Super Country 99.9 WZBB, and the cost is $10 per person, Reynolds said. Car/truck riders are encouraged to participate in the ride that will begin at 1 p.m., Reynolds said.
About $10,000 has been raised since the ride began in 2002, Reynolds said.
Proceeds are overseen by the Bassett Kiwanis Foundation. A $500 scholarship is awarded each year to a Bassett High School student pursuing a degree in education and planning to return to the area, Reynolds said.
While raising money for the scholarship is important — at least five scholarships have been awarded since the ride began in 2003 — ride participants also send a clear message.
“The community has not forgotten,” Reynolds said. “Community support is what this ride is all about. We want to show the family they are still in our hearts; we still support them. No one has forgotten.”
Law enforcement authorities also have not forgotten, he said.
The Jennifer Renee Short Homicide/Abduction Task Force was created several years ago. The federal, state and local authorities assigned to the task force are charged with continuing the investigation into the shooting deaths of the Shorts.
At least five law enforcement agencies also voluntarily participate in various aspects of the ride, Reynolds said. They are the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, the Virginia State Police; the Martinsville Police Department, the Martinsville Sheriff’s Office, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office and other North Carolina agencies.
“Without law enforcement officials, we couldn’t do this ride,” Reynolds said.
The late Virginia State Trooper Ralph Carroll, a motorcycle enthusiast who had taken part in the Short ride, also will be honored by a moment of silence.
Carroll, who died in a June 26 crash while riding his motorcycle, “was instrumental in traffic control and he rode in the ride a few times,” Reynolds said. “We don’t want him to be forgotten, either.”
More than 200 people participated in the event last year and Reynolds is hopeful at least as many participate Sunday.
The 35-mile ride basically will follow the same route as previous years, Reynolds said.
From the radio station, riders will turn right onto U.S. 220 south and proceed to the Virginia/North Carolina state line. Shortly after crossing the state line, the group will take exit 135, turn right at the light and makes three left turns at Dan Valley Road, River Road and Grogan Road.
A ceremony will be held at the bridge there, near where Jennifer’s remains were discovered, Reynolds said.
Riders will return to Henry County for gospel entertainment at CrossPoint Church, which is located in Bassett High School. Food and drinks prepared by church members and/or donated by Bojangles, Red Birch and Walmart, also will be available, he said.
For more information, call Reynolds at 340-2000 or Holcomb at 956-2911.
Anyone with any information on the Shorts slayings is encouraged to call the FBI Tip Line at 1-800-225-5324 or submit an online tip at www.fbi.gov. |
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