JENNER, Calif. – Authorities in this picturesque coastal town continued searching for clues Saturday in the shooting deaths of a young couple, and some residents said they feared for their own safety.
“I’m terrified,” said Julia Bechtold, 27, a waitress in nearby Duncans Mills. “It’s just that we’re so small, so anytime something happens, it seems so out of place.”
Police have identified no suspects and no motive in the deaths of Lindsay Cutshall, 23, and Jason Allen, 26, a devoutly religious couple who were to be married in September.
Their bodies were discovered Wednesday on a remote beach two days after they were reported missing.
Sheriff’s investigators uncovered no new evidence Saturday.
“They’re just combing the area and looking for leads from the public,” spokesman Dave Huber said.
Cutshall and Allen were missionaries spending the summer as whitewater rafting guides at a Christian outdoor adventure camp in the Sierra foothills town of Coloma, about 40 miles east of Sacramento.
Autopsies completed Friday revealed the victims, who were found in their sleeping bags, had been shot through the head at close range. Authorities have ruled out murder-suicide, and there was no evidence of trauma, robbery or sexual assault.
Meanwhile, people in this hamlet of barely 100 residents remained shaken.
“It’s crazy,” said Keary Sorenson, 49, a volunteer at the town visitor’s center. “In an hour, I’m going out to that exact spot where the murders took place for a seal watch. It’s hard to imagine that something like that could take place here.”
Jenner’s one gas station, usually busy on summer weekends, was empty. Dennis Brown, who sells smoked salmon on the roadside, said business has been slow since the murders were reported.
“Who wants to come out here now?” he asked.
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