Oreanna Myers: West Virginia mom shot five kids in head and burned bodies in house fire before killing herself
Oreanna Antoinette Myers' husband shared about suffering a "truly dark time" after his wife's tragic murder-suicide where she shot their five children in the head, before burning their bodies in a house fire. Brian Bumgarner, Myers' husband, shared his side of the story on social media, thanking friends and family for reaching out to him as he endured the difficult loss.
Myers and Bumbarner were parents to three boys together, and two other children from his first marriage. The 25-year-old Myers shot her own three children as well as her two stepchildren in their West Virginia home. She then set their house on fire and took her own life. Just a day after the December 8, 2020 killings, Bumgarner wrote on Facebook: "I just wanted to say sorry and thank you for everyone reaching out to me and messaging me. I can't get back to all of you but in a truly dark time, I feel like I could fall and all of you guys would catch me. It gives me something..... idk what. May it be hope or strength or grit I dont know. All I know is I have something and that's not nothing!!!!" The five children murdered were one-year-old Haiken Jirachi Myers, Arikyle Nova Myers, 3, Kian Myers, 4, Riley James Bumgarner, 6, and Shaun Dawson Bumgarner, 7. The children's bodies were found inside the home and Oreanna's outside.
Through a post from 'Positive vibes and beautiful things', Bumgarner recently shared positivity, filled with fond remembrance of the loved ones lost. "Here's my advice. Hug everyone you love a lot tighter. Never leave someone in an argument. Be Present. Say I love you way too much," he wrote, adding: "Take a lot of pictures with the ones you love. You never know when it'll be the last time you see them. Please don't take any second for granted."
At the time of the incident, Bumgarner wasn't home. He was with his relatives the whole week due to transportation issues, said the Greenbrier County Sheriff Bruce Sloan. Surveillance video reveals that Myers allegedly had a red mark on her face, and once her son asked if it was blood, she "killed five kids." Investigators revealed the disturbing murder-suicide scene on Thursday, January 21, over a press conference in Fairlea, West Virginia.
Metro News reports Sheriff Sloan revealed chilling moments from a school bus video footage, taken the same day of the incident. Myers reportedly didn't bring her youngest two children at their regular stop, something she usually does. Myers was seen wearing a coat with a hood, and a red line drawn across her face, Sloan said. One boy is seen asking Myers: "What is the blood on your face?" Myers responds: "I drew on myself".
Then the four-year-old Kian speaks up: "You drew on yourself?" Shortly after, the house was set on fire, said Sloan and when Myers's body was found, she was still wearing the same coat, and "you could still see the red mark drawn across the bridge of her nose underneath her eyes." Explaining why investigation into Myers' case ended, Sloan said "obviously we can’t determine why Oreanna Myers chose to end the lives of five children and then take her own life. However, through all the facts and evidence obtained during this investigation and all the information that’s been acquired that we concluded did occur on December 8, 2020 at 611 Flynns Creek Road."
Myers did leave several notes ncluding a confession in a plastic bag. Sloan said one of the letters read "I had shot all boys in the head. I had set house on fire. I had shot myself in the head. I’m sorry mental health is serious. I hope one day someone will help others like me. Mental health is not to joke about or to take lightly. When someone begs, pleads, cries out for help, please help them. You just might save a life or more lives. Thank you, O.A.M.”