Triple homicide: Police chase leads; neighbors, school react to deaths

Columbus police say they are pursuing leads in the horrific triple homicide in Upatoi that shocked the city Monday.

Otherwise investigators remained tight-lipped about what they discovered at 3057 Bentley Drive, where Gloria Jean Short, 54; son Caleb Robert Short Jr., 17; and granddaughter Giane or Gianna Lindsey, 11, were beaten to death sometime between midnight and 7:50 a.m.

Gloria Short’s husband Robert Short Sr. found the bodies when he came home from work.

“We’ve got some leads we’re looking into,” police Maj. Gil Slouchick said Tuesday, declining to elaborate.

He said misleading rumors posted on social media were complicating the investigation, and asked that residents stop spreading them.

“If you don’t know anything, don’t say anything,” Slouchick said, later adding, “If you do know something, please call us. Somebody knows something out there.”

He said police are interested in talking not only to witnesses in the area of Bentley Drive, off McKee Road about 1½ miles north of Macon Road or U.S. 80, but also in Columbus’ Oakland Park off South Lumpkin Road, where two vehicles stolen from the home were found.

Those automobiles were a silver 2014 Volkswagen Beetle with Georgia tag PLB 6099 and a green 2004 GMC Envoy with Georgia tag TMR 654.

Police Lt. Greg Touchberry said the VW was found in Rigdon Park on Howe Avenue, and the Envoy at Broadmoor Drive and Cindy Drive. The vehicles have been secured at the Columbus Public Safety Center.

Touchberry asked that anyone with tips in the case contact Cpl. Alan Malone at 706-225-4293 or AMalone@columbusga.org or call the department’s robbery-assault division at 706-653-3400.

Muscogee Coroner Buddy Bryan pronounced the three dead at 9:25 a.m. Monday, police said.

On Tuesday, Bryan said the bodies were removed from the house about 11:30 p.m. Monday, after police had thoroughly documented the scene, and transported to the state crime laboratory in Decatur around 7 a.m. Tuesday.

But state medical examiners were not going to conduct autopsies until today, because they first want to see the crime scene photos, the coroner said.

Forensic pathologists testifying in murder trials sometimes refer to crime scene photos to explain the markings they found on bodies during autopsies.

Once the autopsies are completed, the crime lab will send its report to authorities here, and then the family may have a funeral home retrieve the bodies for burial, Bryan said.

Bryan said his office had the granddaughter’s first name as “Gianna.” Police were using “Giane.”

The reaction in the Cedar Pointe neighborhood where the Shorts lived, neighbors shared memories of the family.

“We were all close to the community,” said Samantha Bryant, a member of the Cedar Pointe Homeowner’s Association. “Our kids grew up together.”

Bryant said she developed a sister-like bond with Gloria over the years, and their families became extremely close. Their families would often get together for vacations, cookout, dinners and other outings.

Bryant described the 54-year-old mother as a sweet, giving person known for her positive, uplifting spirit.

“I don’t remember her having a bad day,” she said. “If she had it, you wouldn’t know it. She was just that type of person.”

She said Caleb, 17, was well-mannered and quiet.

“I couldn’t even see him having an enemy,” Bryant said. “He was just that sweet of a kid.”

Bryant said several of the neighborhood boys, including Caleb, loved to play basketball there: “The boys would be out all night, whether it was cold or warm,” Bryant said. “It could be dark, and they would have on the spotlight playing basketball.”

Bryant shook her head in disbelief as she wondered why anyone would want to harm such a loving family.

“We’ve never had anything close to this happened out here, so I’m kind of in shock right now,” said Bryant, who has lived in Cedar Pointe for 12 years. “I think that goes for pretty much the whole neighborhood. … It’s like a nightmare to me right now.”

Bryant said she’s praying for those affected: “I pray that they find whoever did this to them.”

Another neighbor described the granddaughter as a “happy-go-lucky” girl.

Caleb was a junior at Shaw High School, where a crisis counseling team was available Tuesday to talk to grieving students, said Muscogee County School District spokeswoman Valerie Fuller.

Residents held a 6:30 p.m. private gathering across the street to remember the victims.      

Fuller told the Ledger-Enquirer some students were asking for help coping with their distress.

Shaw Principal Michael Barden sent out a letter about Caleb:

“Caleb was an enjoyable young man who had an infectious smile. He was a good and very respectful student,” Barden wrote.

“I don’t have an answer as to why this type of horrendous act took place or why he and his family lost their lives,” he continued. “I do know we, as a Raider family, have come together and supported each other during our time of grief.”

The Raider is Shaw’s school mascot.

“In closing, please take this opportunity to let your own family and friends know how much they truly mean to you,” Barden concluded. “Please keep the Short family and Shaw High School in your thoughts and prayers.”

Lt. Touchberry said the Short family is cooperating in the investigation.

Police reported the granddaughter was living in Fort Mitchell, Ala., and apparently was visiting the Shorts when the assault occurred. Gloria on her Facebook page called the girl “GiGi.”

It was unclear Tuesday whether GiGi was attending an area school. Fuller said the girl attended North Columbus Elementary School in the second-, third- and part of her fourth-grade year, but withdrew from the district in December 2014.

Russell County School District administrators said they had no record of her enrolling there.

Online records show Gloria’s husband Robert is an intensive-care unit nurse at Columbus’ Northside Hospital on Veterans Parkway — formerly Hughston Hospital — where night shifts run 12 hours from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

He bought the Bentley Drive house in 2008. Built in 2006, it sits on a 1.29-acre lot, records show.

His wife Gloria once worked at Fort Benning’s Martin Army Community Hospital, where former coworkers remembered her fondly in postings to her Facebook page.

“I’m completely speechless,” wrote one woman. “Gloria Short was the first person … to extend the hand of friendship to me when I moved to FT Benning. I will forever remember her kindness and humor. She was so funny, we used to laugh so much.”

Wrote another: “Please say a prayer for my friend and former coworker Gloria Short‘s family. I can’t believe what I just read. I just messaged with her on fb a few days ago. She was one of the kindest people I have ever worked with or known. Always so sweet and understanding. I remember talking to her when I was having a hard time working at MACH and her watching my back and being my ears and eyes.”

This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 8:08 PM with the headline "Triple homicide: Police chase leads; neighbors, school react to deaths."