12 Years Ago She Was Found Murdered In A Park With Her Boyfriend And The FBI Is Offering A 100k Reward For Information That Helps Solve This Tragic College Cold Case
Blacksburg, Virginia. 18-year-old Heidi Childs was a sophomore attending Virginia Tech. Heidi grew up in the area; she was originally from Bedford County, Virginia, which is a short drive away from her college.
She had seven siblings and her family affectionately called her “Smiley.”
Heidi was homeschooled as a child, and she began taking college courses when she was in 10th grade.
Virginia State Police; Heidi smiles in the photo above while wearing a purple and white dress
Heidi was very active in her local church and she even played on their basketball team. She also was a cross country runner, and she loved the great outdoors.
Hiking, camping, skiing; you could find Heidi doing all of these things alongside her best friends.
Virginia State Police; pictured above, Heidi smiles and rests her head on her hand
Heidi was also passionate about playing the guitar and singing, but she didn’t like to be in the spotlight.
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She worked really hard at her studies and earned herself a full academic scholarship to study biochemistry in college.
Heidi had the opportunity to shadow a surgeon during one summer, and she knew she wanted to switch her major over to pre-med.
Heidi dreamed of graduating and working in the medical field, but she tragically never even got to finish her sophomore year.
Virginia State Police; pictured above, Heidi and her boyfriend David smile together while out on a lake
Heidi made it just two days into her second year of college, and then her bright young life was brutally cut short.
She had made an appointment to tell her college advisor that she wanted to start her pre-med track, and she phoned up her parents to excitedly tell them about her decision.
This would be the last phone call Heidi ever made to her family. She never made it to her appointment with her advisor.
Virginia State Police; Heidi and David smile and hug in the photo above
On Wednesday, August 26th, 2009, Heidi’s boyfriend David Metzler picked her up from the apartment she shared with 5 of her college friends, and the two drove in David’s 1992 blue Toyota Camera to Caldwell Fields Campground around 8 that evening. The two had met in church and started dating in college.
The campground is inside Jefferson National Forest, 15 miles from campus, and is a spectacular, yet secluded, place. There is virtually no cell service there.
David had brought along his guitar and thought it would be nice for him and Heidi to make a fire and hang out together.
They were excited to talk about Heidi’s plans to switch her major.
The inseparable couple was planning on just spending a bit of time there before being back home on the early side.
Virginia State Police; pictured above Heidi and her boyfriend David smile together
However, Heidi and David never even got out of David’s car that night. Authorities are not clear on what exactly happened to the couple.
They were discovered together the following morning, at around 8 a.m.
Virginia State Police; Heidi and David are happily pictured together in the above photo
A man had been walking his dog through the campground when he came upon the horrible scene.
Heidi was laying right outside of David’s car. She had been shot point-blank in her face, with a hunting rifle.
David was still sitting right there in the driver’s seat.
Virginia State Police; pictured above David smiles while wearing a suit
The gunman had shot David through the driver’s side window of his car. There was broken glass all over the place.
Heidi’s credit card, purse, college ID, camera, and phone were all nowhere to be found. The attacker had clearly taken her personal belongings.
Authorities do have DNA evidence they believe is from Heidi and David’s killer, and they think it was a completely random attack.
YouTube; Heidi and David are all smiles in the photo above
They’re still struggling to understand the motive behind the murders of Heidi and David, but they do have several suspects in mind.
It’s been 12 years that this case has tragically gone cold.
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person, or persons, responsible for taking away Heidi and David’s bright futures and young lives.
If you have any information at all on what happened to this couple, you can submit it via this website, or call 540-375-9589.
Heidi’s parents have said on the website dedicated to finding out what happened to her, “As for us, Heidi’s family, this incident will forever be a huge void and scar in our lives.”
“We were devastated to lose our precious daughter, sister, aunt, niece, and granddaughter. We will never see her get married and have a family. We will never see her fulfill her dreams in the medical field. She has missed the births of 5 more nieces and nephews.”
“She has missed her siblings’ graduations from high school and college. Our family has missed having her as a part of all of these special events. We will always have a missing seat at the table during holidays and so much more.”
“We also have to live with the fact that the person/s responsible for these murders has not been brought to justice and continue to live day to day in freedom, which puts others at risk.”
Virginia State Police; Heidi and David hug one another in the photo above
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