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Post by Sher on Mar 23, 2006 13:25:55 GMT -5
The SELMER POLICE DEPARTMENT and the state of Tennessee issued the Amber Alert after the murder of the father just before church on Wednesday, March 22 in the evening.
Breanna Winkler 1-year-old, white female,.
Alice Winkler 6-year-old, white, female 3 feet tall and weighs approximately 40lbs with dark brown hair and dark eyes.
Patricia Winkler, an 8-year-old, white female, with dark brown hair and is 4 feet tall and weighs approximately 60lbs.
They are possibly with their mother, Mary Winkler, she is a 32-year-old, white female,5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 120-125lbs. No further description is available at this time.
They are believed to be traveling in a 2006 Toyota Sienna Van, gray in color, with Tennessee License Plate NDX288.
If you have any information or If you have seen the vehicle, the mother or the children please contact the Selmer Police Department at 731-645-7906 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND or dial 911.
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Post by Sher on Mar 23, 2006 16:14:32 GMT -5
SELMER, Tenn. - A church minister was found shot to death in his parsonage, and authorities were searching for his missing wife and three young daughters Thursday.
"We're just really puzzled," Selmer Police Chief Neal Burks said Thursday. "We're concerned about the safety of the children, also."
Church members went searching for pastor Matthew Winkler late Wednesday when he didn't show up for an evening service at Fourth Street Church of Christ, Burks said. He said they used a key to enter the parsonage and found him dead in a bedroom.
Winkler, 31, had been shot, and his family was gone, Burks said.
The chief declined to say if Winkler's wife was considered a suspect. Investigators also weren't sure if she had the children or if any outsiders were involved in shooting and disappearance, he said.
According to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson, there were no signs of forced entry at the parsonage.
The bureau issued an Amber Alert early Thursday for the couple's daughters, Breanna, 1, Mary Alice, 6, and Patricia, 8. The alert said the girls may be with their mother, Mary Winkler.
Mary Winkler was last seen late Tuesday afternoon picking up the children from school, said Ed Jones, TBI assistant director. Burks said she worked as a substitute teacher at the elementary school.
"They were a nice family," said former Selmer Mayor Jimmy Whittington, who said he worked with the pastor collecting donations for hurricane victims last year. "They just blended in."
Arkansas and Kentucky state police said they were alerted to be on the lookout for the family's minivan but had had no sightings Thursday morning.
The family had been living in Selmer, a town of about 4,600 residents in western Tennessee, for about a year, Burks said
Looks like I may have to move this thread to another part of the forum soon. So sad.
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Post by JM/Jan on Mar 23, 2006 16:55:11 GMT -5
Sher,
This is a really sad case! I hope that the girls and their mom are found soon and that they are ok...I hate to think mom had anything to do with their daddies death.
I am praying for the girls to be found safe along with their mom.
Jan
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Post by Sher on Mar 23, 2006 23:09:37 GMT -5
SELMER, Tenn. - A popular and charismatic Tennessee minister was found shot to death in his parsonage, and his wife and three young daughters were found safe in Alabama on Thursday after a daylong search.
Church members went looking for 31-year-old Matthew Winkler when he did not show up for an evening service at the Fourth Street Church of Christ. They used a key to enter the parsonage and found him dead in a bedroom late Wednesday, Police Chief Neal Burks said. Winkler's family was gone, along with their minivan.
There were no signs of forced entry at the parsonage, authorities said.
The other family members were found Thursday night in southern Alabama when a police officer saw their van parked along a road and pulled over to help.
Authorities said they were alone in the van.
Winkler's wife, Mary, "hasn't been arrested," said Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson. "We want to talk to her and find out what she knows" about the slaying of her husband.
The bureau issued an Amber Alert early Thursday for the couple's daughters, Breanna, 1; Mary Alice, 6; and Patricia, 8. The alert said the girls might be with their mother.
All were in good physical condition when they were found in Orange Beach, Ala., about 400 miles south of Selmer.
Johnson said investigators had learned about 1 1/2 hours before the family members were found that they might be in southern Alabama or the Florida Panhandle.
Mary Winkler had last been seen late Tuesday afternoon picking up the children from school, said Ed Jones, TBI assistant director. Burks said she worked as a substitute teacher at the elementary school.
"We're just so relieved that the kids were found safe and now we can focus on the next task" of solving the crime, Johnson said.
Tracy Stewart, city clerk in Selmer, said city investigators plan to go to Alabama to interview the family.
Matthew Winkler was hired as minister in February 2005, said Wilburn Ash, an elder at the 200-member church in Selmer, a town of about 4,600 in western Tennessee. The job was Winkler's first full-time position after working as a youth minister at another church.
Ash said he never saw any conflict in the family.
"He seemed like he was real happy here, and we were happy with him," Ash said. "He preached the Bible. He didn't make his opinions known on what was popular or what was politically right. He just preached the Bible."
Former Mayor Jimmy Whittington said he worked with the minister collecting donations for hurricane victims last year. "They were a nice family," he said. "They just blended in."
Matthew Winkler's grandfather had a 60-year-career as an evangelist in four Southern states, and his father is a minister and adjunct professor at the Church of Christ-affiliated Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson.
He was serving his first full pastorship in Selmer after working as a youth minister at a church in McMinnville, church members said.
Members of the congregation gathered Thursday inside the one-story brick church. "We're just trying to console each other," Ash said.
Pam Killingsworth, a church member and assistant principal at Selmer Elementary, where the Winkler children went to her school, said: "I can't believe this would happen."
"The kids are just precious, and she was precious," Killingsworth said, her eyes red from crying and her voice cracking at times. "He was the one of the best ministers we've ever had — just super charisma."
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