This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Police in west Georgia have expanded their search for a 26-year-old man accused of killing five people, including his wife and members of her family, after their bodies were discovered inside their Troup County family home on Saturday.



Local police named the murder suspect as Thomas Jesse Lee, described as a white male, about 6ft 3in tall, with blue eyes, red hair and a beard. Lee could be driving an olive green Mazda Tribute, according to statement issued by Troup County police.

Sheriff James Woodruff of Troup County told the Associated Press that the five victims had been dead for three days at the time they were discovered, after a concerned employer reported one of the victims missing.

“If this happened Wednesday night and he left immediately, he’s got five days that he could be anywhere,” Woodruff said on Monday.

The US marshals service had been called in to assist the manhunt, the Associated Press reported, as investigators followed up on tips from people who claim to have spotted Lee in Tennessee, Florida and Ohio.

Woodruff told the AP that four of the victims had been shot, although cautioned against citing a cause of death until autopsies were complete.

Sergeant Stewart Smith told the Guardian that no weapon was recovered at the crime scene, indicating that Lee was still armed.

“The weapon used in the crime was not recovered in the crime. It’s more than likely he’s got the weapon with him,” Smith said, adding that anyone with information about Lee’s whereabouts should call 911 immediately.

The dead included Lee’s wife, 33-year-old Christie Lee; her 16-year-old daughter, Bailey Burtron; and the slain woman’s parents, 69-year-old William Burtron and 68-year-old Sheila Burtron. Also killed was a family friend, 18-year-old Iiaonna Green, who authorities said had been living with the family.

The family lived in a quiet suburb outside the city of LaGrange, about 80 miles south-west of Atlanta and just east of the Alabama state line. The sheriff said deputies went to the house on Saturday night after William Burtron’s employer called to say he hadn’t come to work in days and never called in sick. When deputies found the families’ cars parked outside but nobody answered the door, they forced their way into the house.

Inside they found William Burtron dead in the kitchen, and the other four victims in three separate bedrooms. At least four of them had been shot, Woodruff said.

“We canvassed the entire neighbourhood and talked to nextdoor neighbours and people down the street, and nobody saw or heard a thing,” Woodruff said.

Thomas Lee lived at the home with the rest of the family, the sheriff said, and no prior domestic problems had been reported there. Woodruff said he is not aware of the suspect having a prior criminal record.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.