14 DAY TRIAL // The remains of four people have been discovered in a car abandoned in a wooded area in Tennessee.
Police believe that they were fatally shot on Wednesday near the resort community of Renegade Mountain in Cumberland County.
It looks like they were in a blue sedan when they were gunned down. Jobs n Hire wrote that a motorist had found the bodies at 7 a.m. on Thursday.
The victims shot in the Tennessee resort had been dead for at least a day when their bodies turned up.
The FBI has identified the victims as 22-year-old Danielle Jacobson, 16-year-old John Lajeunesse, 17-year-old Steven Presley, and Dominic Davis, also 17.
“There's a lot of emotion that goes into this case just simply based on the age of these children,” Chief Investigator for the Sheriff's Department Casey Cox comments.
Only 43 people are registered as full-time residents in the Renegade Mountain Resort, which spans across 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares).
“There are 10 miles (16 km) of road on 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares). [...] It’s easy to get lost or be invisible once you get past the gate,” Homeowners association president John Moore describes.
There used to be a ski resort there, but now the site is privately owned. There are 141 houses in the area and residents carry a constant battle with owners. A security gate has been removed, leaving way to petty crimes.
“There’ve been some break-ins, some sightseers, some drug dealers and some parkers,” Moore says.
According to NY Daily News, police have arrested 26-year-old Jacob Allen Baennett for the Renegade shooting murders, but there is no further information about his motive.
“[We] believe we have the person that committed these crimes,” states Mark Gwyn, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Officials suggest that the killings have been premeditated, with the killer knowing the victims and targeting them specifically.