MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA -- 15 years has gone by since the death of an entire family.

"We see all these cops around the house, we see these crime scene units around there," said Martinsville Resident, Ray Reynolds.

August 15, 2002 investigators found the bodies of Michael and Mary Short in their Bassett, Virginia  home. Their 9-year-old daughter, Jennifer, was missing.

"We gotta find the little girl. You know. Where's Jennifer? The family pleaded," remembers Captain Tammi Howell, who has been on the case since 2002.

Her body was found weeks later in Rockingham County, "the one thing about it. Someone killed a child,” Reynolds said. “It's bad enough to kill two adults but somebody killed a child and that's a dangerous person."

The person or people who committed the crime haven't been arrested, Reynolds says the unsolved case still plays a negative role in his community.

"We still have problems and issues right now. We still have people arguing over who they think done it."

"We never know when we're going to get that little thread that's going to make it all unravel," said Captain Howell.

The case is still unsolved and is a cold case but it remains active for several agencies, "Henry County Sheriff's Office, Rockingham County Sheriff's Office, ATF, FBI, Virginia State Police," Howell said.

Howell tells Spectrum News that she still gets tips. One as recent as May.

"We'll take anything,” Howell said. “You don't ever know when you'll get that little piece of information like I say, it's going to make it all unravel."

Ray Reynolds is hoping that piece of information comes soon, "it affects all of us in our daily lives. You have a murderer among you and you don't know who it is."