Local and state authorities are seeking information leading to a suspect or suspects in the slaying of a Bledsoe County, Tenn., couple sometime between Monday night and Tuesday evening.
Pikeville residents James Songer, 41, and Robbin Martin, 49, were found dead at their home at 2500 Brockhollow Road around 5:50 p.m. CDT Tuesday, according to 12th Judicial District Attorney Mike Taylor and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Songer's body was found outside the home in the yard and Martin's body was found inside, Taylor said.
A passerby is believed to have spotted Songer's body and alerted police.
TBI agents began probing the scene Tuesday night, Taylor said. Four TBI agents investigated at the home then, and agents and Bledsoe authorities continued interviewing people Wednesday.
The bodies of the man and woman were sent to Nashville for forensic autopsies, he said. Taylor declined to describe their injuries. Investigators on Wednesday hadn't recovered any weapons.
The couple was seen Monday night in nearby Dunlap during the town's July Fourth events at the downtown park, Taylor said. Investigators are trying to pin down what happened to Songer and Martin over the next 24 hours.
"We have not yet been able to trace their movements back to the mountain to get a time frame [for the homicides]," Taylor said.
"It's early on," he said. "The TBI told me they had a list of people they were trying to interview today. But as far as a person of interest or a suspect, there's not one at this time."
For now, investigators need leads, TBI spokesman Josh DeVine said.
Anyone with any information about the deaths of James Songer and Robbin Martin is asked to call the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND or 1-800-824-3463.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com, on Twitter at twitter.com/BenBenton, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or at 423-757-6569.