GASTONIA, N.C. -- Close friends of two murdered women from Gastonia are being warned to be cautious until the killer or killers is caught.
Tim Gause, who lived with one of the victims, Randi Saldana, says if he was a female friend of Saldana's he would be "very afraid."
Saldana's burned body was found off a dirt road in Kings Mountain State Park last Sunday. The first victim, Heather Catterton, 17, was found in a remote area near Clover, S.C., less than a month ago. Family and friends say the women knew each.
Gause, who was given a lie detector test on Friday by investigators from the York County Sheriff's Department, says he was asked three times if he had any role in the deaths. He said he answered that he did not hurt either girl.
A family member of one of the victims, who did not want to be identified, said a close friend of Saldana's has gone to live with a relative and has been told to lie low until the killer can be found.
Gause says he doesn't know what the two friends were doing that would cause someone to want to hurt them.
"I don't know if it was the lifestyle, or if it was where they were going, or if someone knew where they were going," he said. "I wish I knew more."
We found one woman who did know both of the victims. She did not want to be identified but said she was afraid.
"I know Gastonia is getting rough, but I didn't know it was that bad," she said.
Willa Mae Martin, a great aunt of Saldana, says Saldana fell in with a rough crowd of people. Trying to hold back tears, she said, "We just have to learn from it and hope it don't happen no more and hope they catch who did do it."
Gaston County sheriff deputies are warning women they find walking alone to be cautious and to make sure someone knows where they are.
Investigators from York County, S.C., where both bodies were found, are still refusing to answer any questions on the record about the investigation.
