I don’t understand people at all. How could anyone do such a thing to two little girls? These girls are my daughter’s age. :(
Slain Weleetka girls identified
Posted: June 9, 2008 08:55 AM
Updated: June 9, 2008 08:37 PMWELEETKA, Okla. — The bodies of two young girls shot to death near the small town of Weleetka in Okfuskee County were discovered by the grandfather of one of the best friends, along a dirt road the pair used dozens of times to play and walk to sleepovers, grieving family members said Monday.
The bodies of 11-year-old Skyla Whitaker and 13-year-old Taylor Placker were found Sunday afternoon by Taylor’s father, according to authorities.
The girls, who were sleeping over at Taylor’s house, decided to take a walk down the desolate road Sunday afternoon, something they were used to doing in their rural community.
“I can’t describe coming up on it,” Peter Placker said, sobbing uncontrollably, as he tried to remember walking up on the scene, only about one-quarter mile from his house. “I done it once and I can’t do it again.”
Stan Florence, inspector with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, confirmed the names of the girls Monday. Florence said the victims were shot “multiple times” and it was unknown if they were molested.
By Monday afternoon, at least 20 investigators were examining the crime scene and pursuing leads that came in overnight, but authorities had yet to release any details about a possible suspect.
Meanwhile, relatives tried to make sense of the grisly killings in a community where some folks still leave their keys in their cars and residents who live 10 miles apart still call themselves neighbors.
Skyla was the carefree adventurer, the girl who walked barefoot almost everywhere and rode her bicycle down endless dirt roads. Where she went, her many cats followed, along with her pet goat. Skyla wanted to become a veterinarian, said her grandmother, Claudia Farrow.
To know Taylor was to love her. She was the big-hearted girl who rescued helpless turtles crawling in the middle of the road and wanted to become a forensic scientist, like on the TV shows, said Peter Placker, who says he raised Taylor like a father even though he was her grandparent.
She was home-schooled until the family moved to Weleetka, located about 70 miles south of Tulsa.
“She was the best kid I’ve known,” Placker said.
What ever happened to it being safe for two little girls to go take a walk? Something my girls do all the time, something I always did when I was young. Why would anyone want to do such at thing? I’m getting to where I really don’t understand what is going on in this world.
If you’d like to donate to the funeral funds to these girls (who on earth has money set aside to have a funeral for your 11 or 13 year old?! You’re not supposed to have to worry about stuff like that.), here is the info:
To make a donation to the girls’ separate funeral funds, contact the Bank of Commerce in Weleetka.
Bank of Commerce
PO Box 248
Weleetka, OK 74880
(405) 786-2216
The whole thing just makes me want to cry.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
how awful. Just awful. I don’t know what the world has come to. What’s wrong with people. Why do people do these things? Are they that miserable that they have to make the rest of us miserable to?
Speechless… God Bless Them!!!
Oh, my heart just breaks thinking about what happened to these little girls. I have a 14 yo and and she and her best friend are inseparable. Best friends…
It’s odd. Six months ago this story would have made me cry. It deeply saddens me but I’m not crying. It’s as if the only tears I have left are for Nathan and Denise. I’m just saying it’s weird. Does that mean I’m stronger or just more hardened.
God bless the two girls families. I can very much imagine what they are going through and I’m sure it’s hell.
It sounds as if these two little girls were used for a sociopath’s target practice and fun. I find it hard to believe that anyone was committing a crime in that location. Violence is too exposed as “normal” and our children play “games” full of it. Normalization will only make it continue to escalate. How sad for these people and all of us. Pray!!
I live in a rural area of Pennsylvania. I moved here from New York City years ago so my kids would have a safe place to live and grow up in. It unnerves me to think someone would take the lives of two innocent girls and it makes me think twice of what I once thought was a safe area for my kids. My son is always walking down isolated rural lanes without a thought about safety – much less about being shot.
My heart goes out to the little girls’ parents – God Bless.
May our Good Lord take the girls into His heavenly kingdom whre their is no pain, suffering, but life everlasting. May He comfort the families of the victims in as they endure the nightmare of every person. May He bring to justice the fiend who perpetrated such an awful, dispicable and unthinkable act.
Lord have mercy on the folks in this small OKla town and our country.
After hearing of this case on the Nancy Grace show, several things came to me
they are:
#1. The person or persons if they were there for a while
surely beer cans or bottles or cigarette buts or something had to be close to that area they were found in.
#2. maybe the person or persons were sitting in a truck with a gun and did not care what they shot?
#3. perhaps a local sex offender was already on that road?
#4. I have not seen any maps of the road or the exact location not knowing the actual location, but were there any homeless people or hitchikers known to go on that road?
#5. Also i do hope if there was a computer it is being checked for clues also the cell phones of course are being checked for numbers called and calls recieved…
right before the killing happened.
#6. the only other thing I can think of is that perhaps a young person was
out there shooting maybe some casings are in the woods/
or something?
Thanks and I also pray this case gets solved quickly..
it is very unlikely he/ she/ they will go without bragging…
so maybe their own guilt or tongues will give them away?
I am in Pennsylvania and even here I worry with all the strange things going on in the world today.
When they are your daughter’s age, it makes it even worse.
I am so very sad and cannot imagine the pain these families must be going through. Let them be comforted by knowing their little girls are in heaven together.
May God bless and keep this entire community. With Sincere Sympathy.
i find it highly unlikely that there are two shooters simply because whats the odds of having two people with the mentality to murder 2 children in a small town if it were a small town murderer not to mention no reports have been released to my knowledge stating that both children had not been shot by the same weapoons meaning that one weapon killed the children the other was used to make sure the children were dead but it has been mentioned that these children made these walks regualarly i wonder how long these walks took on a normal basis versus when the grandfather became concerned enough to go look for the children i heard they were only missing half an hour from the time the bodies were discovered thats 30 minutes from the time they left the house for a walk and the grandfather became concerned and went looking and found the bodies that means the children werent even missing from the home 30 minutes when the grandfather became concerned something doesnt add up there
You are definitely right — something DOES NOT add up. Parents/guardians do not panic over a child being missing for 30 minutes unless they had a terrible fight before they left …. or …. the girls said they were going to go and meet some boys and the parents/guardians did not approve … or something like that. The grandfather would not have gone after them in just 30 minutes unless …………..!!! It is a horrible thought. I pray they find the person/persons involved in this senseless act of violence.
I personally would panic if my child was missing for 10 minutes! or less…. but that is just me.
My daughter and the neighbor across the street are good friends- we still watch them walk to her house and vice versa. Some people might think its crazy, but You can never be too careful. My deepest sympathy for the family and friends of these girls. It is heart breaking. I am truly at a loss for words. :(
I know a family has to carefully watch their children. But this was a rural area. Things like this just don’t happen normally, and therefore, 30 minutes to be out of one’s sight, at their age, wasn’t all that unusual. I also realize we are living in a society that is changing. It is sad, sad, sad that we cannot even trust people anymore! I teach school and I see every day of my life how our lives have changed due the the society in which we live. What happened to the good ole days when we didn’t have to watch our children every second, when we could trust our neighbor, when we could help someone without the fear of it coming back to “bite” us, when we could ….. I just hope and pray that this situation is resolved and that they do not find someone close to these girls as the culprits.
I’m horrified as to what these two families are going through. And after what we’ve been through in the past several months, I wouldn’t begin to speculate. I remember all the speculation on all the boards when Denise went missing and even some of the most innocent remarks were hurtful to us.
That’s a major lesson, I learned. Not to judge. And not to speculate. I understand it’s people trying to make sense out of a senseless crime. And it’s natural to question but speculation often comes off as judging and on an internet post many times nuance is missed and things are taken out of context.
Gosh, I pray for these families. Or at least I try to.
I still don’t understand what’s happening to our world. But I know that here in SouthWest Florida the good are definitely rising up above the evil! The good is definitely winning. Let’s hope and pray for the small community in Oklahoma.
Thank you, Peggy. Your viewpoint really helps put things into perspective, and reminds us all that we should not judge. After all, we don’t have any idea what happened. I also pray for the families and for all the people in their community. I hope they are receiving the support that your family received.
The reason why the grandfather went to look for the girls is because they did not answear their cell phones, Taylor mom/grandmother asked the dad/grandfather to go get the girls and that is when he found them on the side of the road he used Taylors cell phone to call the police.
I have a question I was watching the Fox News 23 Tulsa news and I heard them say that one of the girls wooden cross has been confiscated by the OSBI as evidence because the killer came back and wrote “Noone will ever catch me” is this true? Because I have been trying to find the news video and cant seem to find the right one I want to watch it and make sure I was hearing that right. Whoever this person or persons are they are getting brave enough to come back to the crime scene and leave messages. Creepy!
Taylor Paschal-Placker and Skyla Whitaker
Our Father’s heart openly weeps over
The outcome of these best friends.
And he alone will undo this sad injustice
Making it possible for their lives to never end.
He knew their true potential,
Their future impact on the world
So he has a wonderful gift to give each
Of these beautiful little girls.
What a place he has in store!
In safety, contentment, peace and joy.
Plenty to do while engaging their minds
In perfect bodies, eternal life they’ll enjoy.
To be reunited with Taylor and Skyla
Under astonishing conditions of his Kingdom blessed
Be quick to act on what he commands
Would Almighty God require anything less?
Our Father’s heart openly weeps over
The outcome of these best friends.
And he alone will undo this sad injustice
Making it possible for their lives to never end.
He knew their true potential,
Their future impact on the world
So he has a wonderful gift to give each
Of these beautiful little girls.
What a place he has in store!
In safety, contentment, peace and joy.
Plenty to do while engaging their minds
In perfect bodies, eternal life they’ll enjoy.
To be reunited with Taylor and Skyla
Under astonishing conditions of his Kingdom blessed
Be quick to act on what he commands
Would Almighty God require anything less?
I just came across this story & I am in total shock! I find it very strange though that I’m only hearing about it now! I watch the news & read news articles online daily…sometimes more than once a day. Things like this should be broadcasted nationally just like an Amber Alert.
I too agree with Marion…something doesn’t add up. How did the grandmother know to go look in the ditch? Maybe I’m confused or didn’t read something right but its odd that she found them in a ditch…if my children were gone for a walk & were missing I’d never once think to look in a ditch for them! At another friends house, sure.
Another person posted a list of questions as well, like they said cigarette butts or some kind of evidence had to be left behind. There’s no way & no how someone could do this and NOT leave any type of evidence behind, especially if it was a random act of violence. I honestly DON’T believe this was random either. The reports I’ve read have all said that the girls walked that road several times before, whom ever this psycho lunitic is must have known these two girls walked that road.
One other thing…I’m very distraught why the families had the funerals seperately as well. I don’t mean to step on toes or anything but it must have been hard enough going to one funeral for your child & then shortly after going to her best friend’s funeral as well. Only thing I could think was one family is blaming the other for a senseless murder. :o(
I just pray that this person is caught & justice is served. Those poor young & innocent girls :o( May they forever rest in peace together. God bless both families.
welli used to runaway i started when i was 13 i am now 17 and i v sopped running aay i never realized what kind of pople were out in this world until i explored it i putmy family through hell tat is whyi really dont want kids whn i get older i dont want to have to worry about stuff likethis i wish the best for the grieving families i am so sorry but hopeflly thy are up therein haven an are havin fun and they are able to go s far as they want without geting hurt my brother should show them around hewill be hppy to have some new friends i wish the best for all of u and everyone who is going through this right now my ame is sharina and i anyone ever needs to talk theyare moreta welcome to send me a message peace love and happiessfeveyoneand may god bless all ofu