Crucial evidence found in Billings case

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Hundreds of friends and family members gathered at Liberty Church Thursday, for a visitation for Byrd and Melanie Billings. While they prepared to say goodbye to them, developments continued to break in the investigation.

Just hours after the eighth arrest in the case, deputies seized critical evidence.

State Attorney Bill Eddins said, "We have located the safe, and the safe is being processed at this time. We have located several guns in various locations, one of which we believe is the murder weapon."

They found all this after they arrested Pamela Long Wiggins for accessory after the fact. A police report states that Wiggin's husband told deputies the safe was buried behind one of her properties. Investigators say Wiggins owned a red mini-van that was used to move the safe and the weapons and investigators also say Wiggins was in that van with the evidence.

Investigators believe she may be the last missing piece in the crime.

Sheriff David Morgan said, "The investigation has been consistent, even with the last individual placed under arrest. It is a combination of friendships, casual business relationships that brought this group together."

Investigators won't comment on what was inside the safe or anything else that was taken, but it does give them a more defined motive.

Eddins said, "This was a home invasion robbery. I personally find it that simple."

Sheriff Morgan said, "We do believe as it progresses, the investigation continues, additional motives will be found."