Ellen Sheldon was 71. Robert Sheldon was 70. At a news conference on Monday morning, Sheriff Archie Dunn said the murders had to have happened late Saturday or early Sunday. He said the couple attended a party for their Sunday School class at their church on Saturday evening.

Dunn didn’t release details about how the Sheldons died. The Tri-State Major Case Squad is activated to try to find the killer.

Dunn said investigators want to talk to the owner of a car that was seen in the driveway of the Sheldons' home on Saturday night. He wouldn't give details about that car.

Dunn also mentioned something about the murders possibly being a "hate crime" but wouldn't elaborate to puzzled reporters. The Dunns were white. He said the crime scene shows evidence of severe animosity by the killer.

The Sheldons’ home is on dead-end Black Powder Road. On the property is Old Cabin Shop, a gun shop inside an historic home built in 1830 that was Jasper County’s first courthouse in 1841. Robert Sheldon, in addition to owning the shop, was a 25-year reserve officer with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department.

Dunn said Sheldon was an “easy-going” man whom everyone liked and who had no known enemies. He didn’t know if anything is missing from the gun shop, which has hundreds of weapons.