GBI investigating after man, woman found dead in their Waycross home

WAYCROSS, Ga. – A man and woman were found dead Monday in their home in the Waycross area, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Tuesday.

The bodies of Virginia Thomas, 73, and Charles Barnett, 75, were discovered in their bed at their home on South Lakeview Drive, according to the GBI. They were found by a family member around 8:30 a.m., the GBI said.

The couple had suffered apparent gunshot wounds, the GBI said.

On Tuesday, GBI agents could be seen going door to door to talk with neighbors.

Neighbors who News4JAX spoke with said they never heard any gunshots. Several neighbors said they saw a large police presence outside the house but didn’t know what happened to the couple until the GBI announced it was taking over the investigation into a double homicide.

The neighbors who News4JAX talked with said that the couple were very courteous and that Charles Barnett always spent time on the front porch.

“They were just nice folks,” said resident William Warner. “I’d be working in my yard and they would say ‘Hi.’ When I would come home from work, the older gentleman would be on his porch and wave to me.”

“It was a shock to all of us because nothing like this has ever happened here. It’s always been a good neighborhood,” said resident Roseann Merritt.

One neighbor who knew the couple for more than a decade said they were like family to him.

“I just can’t believe it. When I didn’t go to North Carolina to be with my brother on holidays, I would enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas with Charles and Virginia. He was like a brother and she was like a sister to me,” said neighbor Rodger Nettles. “I’m still dumbfounded by this actually. I just walk over to the edge of the porch and look over to his place and Charles is not there to wave back anymore.”

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the GBI Douglas Field Office at 912-389-4103 or the Ware County Sheriff’s Office at 912-287-4327.