She took her morning shower, returned to find her pillow ripped to
shreds and blamed it on the cat. But after taking a closer look she
found a bullet hole in the pillow.
From the side of County Road 44 in Stearns County, deer stands can
be spotted less than a mile from neighborhoods.
"To me it was just a regular shot, it was close, real close. Came
from that general direction," said Tony Studer, who heard the shot
fired around noon Sunday.
It may have sounded like no big deal, but the outside of his home
has a half-inch reminder that it is still deer hunting season.
"I see that hole in the wall and my heart just sinks and I'm like
this can't be what I think it is," Studer remembered.
A closer look showed a muzzle loading rifle shot traveled through
the wall and into his daughter's bedroom, then into the linens.
"Entrance hole and an exit hole," Studer described while holding
his daughter's pillow. The large bullet came to a stop after going
through Johanna Armstrong's pillow. A pillow where she had been
sleeping just an hour earlier.
"We actually found the slug wrapped up in the covers at the bottom
of the bed," Studer said.
"She's pretty lucky she wasn't in bed with her head on the pillow,"
said Stearns Country Chief Deputy Bruce Bechtold.
The rifle slug is now evidence in part of an ongoing investigation
with the sheriff's department. Investigators say they've interviewed
neighbors and are going through muzzle loader gun records to see if
one is registered in the area.
A day later feathers from Johanna's pillow still line the entrance
of her home as a reminder.
"Everyone of those feathers is a guardian angel and she needed
everyone that day and it's true she needed everyone," her father said.
Minnesota's deer hunt muzzle loader opener was Saturday, November
24th.
Stearns County authorities ask that you call them if you have any
information.
By Jeffrey DeMars, KARE 11 News
(Copyright 2007 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
Last Updated: 11/27/2007 12:35:29 PM
