Police find two teens dead in apparent double suicide
By Associated Press
Published January 18, 2005
PANAMA CITY BEACH - Two Bay County teenagers were found dead Monday from apparent self-inflicted gunshots at a beach house under construction, police said.
The bodies of Ashlyn Pecori, 14, and Jeremy Hightower, 15, who had been dating for 10 months, were found on the second floor of the house. They were reported missing last Tuesday and police conducted a massive, fruitless search Thursday and Friday.
Police said the two left behind songs, letters, poems and drawings with dark overtones but no clear evidence of a death pact.
An autopsy indicated both teens shot themselves. Pecori's father, Robert, had told police a .380-caliber pistol was missing along with his daughter.
Pecori told police he asked his daughter at 1 a.m. Tuesday to get off the telephone and get some sleep. The missing-person report said she became upset when he said they would discuss her telephone use Tuesday night.
