The bodies of a 16-year-old cheerleader and a 47-year-old man were found Saturday less than 24 hours after the girl was last seen getting into her alleged abductor's pickup truck at her high school, officials said.
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The bodies of Caitlin Elizabeth Wooten and Jerry Don Savage were spotted by troopers who were searching for them in an Oklahoma Highway Patrol helicopter shortly before 10 a.m., said Mark Bratcher, a spokesman for the city.
The deaths appear to be a murder-suicide, said Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
The troopers guided a search team on the ground to the partially wooded area in Pontotoc County six miles southwest of Ada, Bratcher said.
Savage had previously lived in the area and knew the owner of the land where the bodies were found, authorities said. The landowner, Saye Sliger, was arrested as an accessory to the crime and currently is being held in the Pontotoc County Jail, Brown said.
Savage at one time dated the girl's mother, Donna Wooten, and was recently arrested for attempting to kidnap Donna Wooten, Brown said. He was out of jail on bond when he allegedly kidnapped Caitlin Wooten, Brown said.
Wooten, a member of the color guard at Ada High School, was last seen about 3 p.m. Friday getting into a dark green, late model Dodge pickup at the end of the school day. The pickup was discovered late Friday on a street in Ada, Bratcher said.
Savage reportedly called the girl's grandmother after she was abducted and threatened to harm her, according to Bratcher.
Court records indicate that Donna Wooten obtained a protective order against Savage on Aug. 30.
A statewide Amber Alert was activated following the girl's abduction. The system is named from Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old Arlington, Texas, girl who was kidnapped and killed in 1996.
Ada High School principal Bill Nelson said groups of students gathered at the school throughout the day Saturday to mourn the loss of their classmate.
"I think shock and despair are probably the best terms to describe it," Nelson said. "The whole situation around this is so tragic and senseless that adolescents will struggle to find out why things like this happen."
A candlight vigil is planned at the high school at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, and Nelson said grief counselors and clergy will be at the school on Monday to help students deal with the tragedy.
