BALLARD, W.Va. — Members of the Natural Resources Police were called Saturday after a pair of fishermen made a grim discovery on the banks of Indian Creek in Monroe County.
The anglers discovered the body of a child, age 11 months, and when State Police and sheriff’s deputies arrived, the evidence at the scene clearly pointed to a homicide.
“At that point they called Natural Resources Police because they needed searchers who were not only skilled in swift-water search and rescue, but also evidence collection,” said DNR Police Captain Woody Brogan.
Members of the Natural Resources Police teamed up with state troopers and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Department to work a grid search on the creek. Sgt. Marshall Richards of the DNR was part of the search which found the second victim’s body, age 7, not far downstream in a more remote location.
“It was late afternoon our guys found the second body about a quarter of a mile down the river from the first,” he said.
Authorities recovered the two young girls bodies, both sisters, after they and their parents had gone missing under suspicious circumstances Saturday morning. The family’s home at Ballard burned down and according to fire fighters on the scene, the fire was set deliberately.
The parents, Kevan Anderson, 40, and Helen Rattamasribounreuang, 30, are not married. Their bodies were discovered Sunday in a wooded area several miles from their home near the home of Anderson’s mother.
State Police are the lead investigative agency on the case. Brogan said they are being very limited in what they have released in deference to troopers and to protect the case.
“There’s a little bit of confusion as to what went on. We would not want to release any evidence that would jeopardize the findings of the lead investigation,” he said.