Skull Found Near Site of Girl’s Disappearance

MADISON, N.C. — A man reported Wednesday that his dog found a small human skull in this rural area about 30 miles from where a 9-year-old Virginia girl disappeared last month, police said.

Authorities--including a contingent from Henry County, Va., where officials have been hunting for Jennifer Short since Aug. 15--quickly descended on the site. Dogs were brought in to look for the rest of the remains.

The skull “appears to be from somebody young,” said Jeannie Justice, a spokeswoman for the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office.

Jennifer Short disappeared almost six weeks ago. Officials believe the girl was kidnapped after her parents were slain in their Bassett, Va., home.

For days after Jennifer’s disappearance, authorities combed the hills by her parents’ house on horseback and four-wheelers.

The parents, Michael Short, 50, and Mary Hall Short, 36, were shot to death in their house along U.S. 220, about 35 miles south of Roanoke. No arrests have been made.