Rockolds couple’s death still a mystery to investigators

Investigators have ruled out foul play, suicide and carbon monoxide poisoning in the death of two people found dead in a trailer on Mobley Branch Road Saturday evening.

"There was no physical evidence to indicate anything," said Whitley County Sheriff Colan Harrell

Harrell said deputies arrived on the scene in the Rockholds community about 5:40 p.m. following a call from family members who reported finding Melissa Proffitt, 41, and Richard Saylor, 31 dead at the scene. Proffitt and Saylor were lying on a bed.

"They were fully clothed," Harrell said, noting from the positions of the bodies it appears the duo had laid down on the bed as if they were taking a nap. "She had taken her shoes off."

Harrell said based on that and a lack of other evidence, investigators ruled out foul play.

While the threat of carbon monoxide poisoning increases this time of year with more people firing up their household furnaces, Whitley County Deputy Coroner Jerry Croley said there was  no indication that carbon monoxide played any part in these deaths.

Deputies did not find any drugs or alcohol at the scene and there was no evidence of recent drug use. In order to rule them out as a cause, Harrell said samples taken during the autopsy have been sent to the Kentucky State Police Lab in Frankfort for a toxicology test.

"I have not seen anything like it before," Harrell said.

Deputies are continuing to work to determine the last time Proffitt and Saylor were seen alive.

Deputy John Hill is continuing the investigation.