A woman came home to find her four children shot to death in their beds, and police sought the woman's estranged husband.
Bertha Satterwhite, who had separated from Johnny Satterwhite a week ago, found the bodies of her 16-year-old daughter and three sons, ages 10, 13 and 14, late Sunday, police said. They had been dead at least three days, said Laurens County Coroner Zack Seymour.The children had all been shot in the head at least once, Seymour said.
Johnny Satterwhite was last seen Friday at the nearby mill where he worked. He is the stepfather of the three older children and the father of the youngest, Seymour said.
Police signed warrants charging the 37-year-old man with murder, Police Chief Robin Morse said Monday. Also this morning, a county employee spotted Satterwhite's truck about five miles north of here. Police were preparing to search nearby woods.
The children were last seen at school Thursday, Morse said.
Seymour said investigators recovered a .22-caliber revolver and a note from Satterwhite to his wife in the living room of their small, one-story brick and wood house. He would not disclose what the note said.
The children apparently were shot as they slept because they all were wearing pajamas, Seymour said.