Cow's eyes gave suspect away
06-30-2004 | 12:00 PM
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Nontypical Buck
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From: Tennessee
Cow's eyes gave suspect away
http://www.tennessean.com/local/arch...nt_ID=53489099
I'm posting this in the hunting section because there have many times when I have watched cows and horses to spot a deer or coyote in the woods. This time the cows found a killer.
Cows' eyes gave suspect away, tracker says
COLUMBIA — While three teenagers provided the tip that led lawmen to capture double-slaying suspect Parker Ray Elliott on Monday evening, the final tip came from — believe it or not — cows.
Elliott was busted by bovines.
''As we came into the area where Elliott was, I saw four or five cows by a barn,'' said Shane Petty, who was tracking the fugitive with his bloodhound, Ellie May.
''I knew those cows should have been looking at me, since I had just come into the area,'' Petty said, ''but they were looking over into the woods, so I knew that's where he was.''
Petty, who is the Tennessee state parks' special operations officer, also has degree in agriculture.
''And I'm an old farm boy,'' he said.
It paid off Monday
Elliott had been on the run since Thursday night, when police say he fled his ex-wife's Culleoka home after shooting and killing his daughter, Rachel, 18, and seriously wounding his son, Seth, 15, and his ex-wife, Freda. Freda died Saturday.
He was captured less than two miles from his former home, 8602 Dry Creek Road, where he and Freda lived for 10 years before their divorce last year.
''He knew those woods like the back of his hand,'' Petty said. ''So I can't believe he showed himself that close to a house.
''That is rough territory back there — with caves, woods and high grass,'' he said, describing the point where Maury, Giles and Lawrence counties converge. ''He could have hidden back in there for months.
''This could have dragged on a long, long time.''
I'm posting this in the hunting section because there have many times when I have watched cows and horses to spot a deer or coyote in the woods. This time the cows found a killer.
Cows' eyes gave suspect away, tracker says
COLUMBIA — While three teenagers provided the tip that led lawmen to capture double-slaying suspect Parker Ray Elliott on Monday evening, the final tip came from — believe it or not — cows.
Elliott was busted by bovines.
''As we came into the area where Elliott was, I saw four or five cows by a barn,'' said Shane Petty, who was tracking the fugitive with his bloodhound, Ellie May.
''I knew those cows should have been looking at me, since I had just come into the area,'' Petty said, ''but they were looking over into the woods, so I knew that's where he was.''
Petty, who is the Tennessee state parks' special operations officer, also has degree in agriculture.
''And I'm an old farm boy,'' he said.
It paid off Monday
Elliott had been on the run since Thursday night, when police say he fled his ex-wife's Culleoka home after shooting and killing his daughter, Rachel, 18, and seriously wounding his son, Seth, 15, and his ex-wife, Freda. Freda died Saturday.
He was captured less than two miles from his former home, 8602 Dry Creek Road, where he and Freda lived for 10 years before their divorce last year.
''He knew those woods like the back of his hand,'' Petty said. ''So I can't believe he showed himself that close to a house.
''That is rough territory back there — with caves, woods and high grass,'' he said, describing the point where Maury, Giles and Lawrence counties converge. ''He could have hidden back in there for months.
''This could have dragged on a long, long time.''
