Sheriff Gives Update on Brutal Triple Murder in 'God's Country'

Men were on their way to go fishing in Polk County, Florida
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 20, 2020 1:31 AM CDT
Sheriff Gives Update on Brutal Triple Murder in 'God's Country'
Sheriff Grady Judd, of Polk county, Fla., is seen in a 2018 file photo.   (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Authorities don't yet know if the three friends beaten and shot to death when they met up Friday night to go fishing at a remote lake in Polk County, Fla., knew their attacker or attackers. But, as Sheriff Grady Judd explained at a press conference cited by CNN, "Our intuitiveness tells us you don't just stumble upon somebody out here. This is a dirt road, a clay, dirt road way out in the middle of what we call God's country. It's not like there's a lot of people around here. As you can see it's cow pastures and lakes." Authorities believe there are multiple suspects, and a $5,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest.

One of the three male victims, 27-year-old Brandon Rollins, was able to call his father after the attack and say "help," Judd said. But in his haste to get to the scene, Rollins' father forgot his cellphone and had to leave again to hail authorities; he was able to speak to his son when he got to the lake, but all three men were dead by the time he got back. The other two victims were Damion Tillman, 23, and Keven Springfield, 30. The three men had been best friends for years, WFTV reports. (More Florida stories.)

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