The Brutal Murder of Heidi Childs and David Metzler
The two Virginia Tech students were killed in a Jefferson National Forest parking lot.
David Metzler decided to take advantage of the warm weather and spend some time outside on the evening of August 26, 2009. The 19-year-old, who was a sophomore at Virginia Tech, told his roommates that he was going to take his girlfriend to Caldwell Fields in nearby Jefferson National Forest. David was somewhat familiar with that area because he had visited it on a church retreat over the summer, and he wanted to share it with his girlfriend, 18-year-old Heidi Childs. His roommates watched as David placed his guitar in his car and then drove off in the direction of Heidi’s apartment.
Heidi was ready when she saw David’s dark blue Toyota Camry pull up outside of her apartment building. She told her roommates that David planned to light a fire and play his guitar for her, then he would bring her home. She mentioned that she still needed to finish some homework so she didn’t expect to stay out very late. With a final wave to her roommates, Heidi grabbed her purse and rushed out the door.
Caldwell Fields was located about 15 miles away from the Virginia Tech campus. Although the area attracted a large number of tourists, especially in the summer, it was quite isolated…