Lee Buchanan
editor@thefranklinpress.com
A Macon County man shot and killed his wife before turning the gun on himself in an apparent murder-suicide on Sunday, Feb. 21.
Macon County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a home off Broadleaf Lane in the Cowee area after a family friend found the bodies of an adult male and two dogs on the front porch and called 911 at 10:28 a.m.
Deputies and EMS workers found the body of Joe Jenkins, 62, on the front porch, holding a firearm. The body of a woman, later identified as Becky Jenkins, 49, was found in a bedroom. Both victims died of gunshot wounds, according to the sheriff’s office.
“As part of our investigation we were able to verify that the male living at the Broadleaf home had communicated with family members and a family friend around 10 a.m., just prior to his death,” said Macon County sheriff Robert Holland.
The investigation is continuing, and autopsies are scheduled to be performed this week.
“We recognize that there may be questions that will never be answered,” Holland said.
In an unrelated incident, the body of Jonathan Gonzales-Valdez, 24, was found on Sunday morning inside his vehicle at the US 64 West overlook. Investigators are handling the case as a suicide and retrieved a firearm from the vehicle.
A passing motorist noticed the vehicle around 8 a.m. Sunday, then stopped to check on the occupant when he drove by again at 10:11 a.m.
“Detectives believe that the deceased 24-year-old male died from a self-inflicted gunshot and was deceased prior to the passing motorist seeing him sitting in his vehicle earlier in the morning,” Holland said.
Holland stressed that the timing of the reported fatalities was a coincidence, and that the incidents were unrelated
“We have become aware there is concern in our community that there may be a connection between the two incidences, but more importantly a concern that there may be a threat to public safety following three deaths of members of our community,” Holland said in a statement. In an effort to ease concerns, we are comfortable in releasing that we believe there is no need to be concerned about the safety of the community.”