14 DAY TRIAL // A manhunt is underway in Northern California for a man who has killed his wife and two kids in a rural area near Shingletown.
According to The Guardian Express, 45-year-old Shane Franklin Miller fatally shot wife Sandy Miller, 34, and their daughters, Shelby, 8, and Shasta, 4. The motive for the killings remains unknown to this point.
LA Times noted that when police arrived at the scene, a house located in a town of under 2,000, they found a blood bath.
Police have expanded their search and are now blocking off a wooded area near Petrolia, 200 miles (321 km) from Shingletown. Officers originally suspected that Miller was headed for a cabin in Ferndale.
“We’re going into a vulnerable situation where we’re trying to search for him in a dense forest he knows very well and that we know adequately.
“There’s many cabins in the area we’re searching,” Shasta County Lt. Dave Ken comments.
The suspect knows his way around the woods, has a criminal record and is believed to be heavily armed and dangerous.
“There were some ammunition boxes found. There was a lot of weapons that were in his name and his wife’s name that have not been accounted for.
“We’re not releasing the types of weapons we did find, but there’s other weapons outstanding, including the type of weapons involved in the crime. He’s armed and extremely dangerous with the types of weapons unaccounted for,” Kent adds.
Miller may have also hidden weapons at other locations, but the police have not found any stashes as of now.
“We can’t confirm the types of weapons cached in other places,” Kent says. Schools in the area are currently on lockdown and residents of Petrolia are asked not to leave their homes without notifying friends or family.
“They say if we go out for any reason to put a note on the door with our name on it and where we are,” 69-year-old Dennis Handy describes.