The Scioto County Sheriff’s Department is continuing to investigate a double fatal shooting Friday night at a residence in the 1100 block of Sherborne Road, in Lucasville.

Dead are Gary Markins, 65, of Lucasville, and Nina Mannering, 30, of Jackson.

“This particular crime scene has the hallmarks of a drug-related incident,” Scioto County Coroner Dr. Terry Johnson said. “And that will have to be borne out through the investigation. And we will certainly keep a close watch on that.”

Scioto County Sheriff Marty V. Donini said that his office received a 911 call at 5:38 pm on Friday evening from a child stating that her mother and a friend had been shot. Deputies and detectives along with Minford squad 3 responded to the location on Sherborne Road. Upon their arrival two subjects were pronounced dead at the scene.

Johnson told the Portsmouth Daily Times he pronounced both dead at the scene at 7:10 p.m. and the bodies had been transported to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office for autopsies.

Late Saturday morning, Johnson told the Times he had received a preliminary report from the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.

“Mr. Markins, a 65-year-old white male did succumb to gunshot wounds. He had three gunshot wounds — one to the head, one to the axilla (armpit), and one to the chest. Nina Mannering, a 30-year-old white female was the victim of a single gunshot wound to the head.”

Scioto County Sheriff’s Captain David Hall had also issued the description of a dark blue 2002 Ford Extended Cab pickup belonging to Markins, but later told the Times the search for the truck was over.

“We have located the vehicle,” Hall said. “We located it in the Lucasville area.”

Hall was asked if his department was looking for a specific individual in the shootings.

“No, we’re following up on all leads,” Hall said. “We’re following up with family members. Following up on any acquaintances the man and the woman may have had.”

Hall said investigators had worked all night at the scene and on the search for the vehicle.

Donini is asking anybody with any information on this shooting to contact Detective Paul Blaine at (740) 354-7566 all calls will remain anonymous.

“The public can call the office with any information,” Hall said. “Anything at all — truthful or hearsay — we need to hear it. Because sometimes that hearsay turns out to be true.”

Johnson said he is implementing a new procedure in the Coroner’s office beginning with this case in view of all of the recent inquiries about prescription drug abuse and prescription drug problems in Scioto County.

“One of the things that has come to the forefront — almost every agency has requested information on who prescribed what medications that were found at the scene — and there really has been no mechanism to account for that,” Johnson said. “So starting with this case, I’m asking forensic examiners in Montgomery County to develop a method to inventory and make note of, and to keep track of physicians who prescribed prescription drugs of a controlled nature to the folks involved in the crime.

“Typically when we have drugs that the Coroner is interested in as a part of the toxicology, and to keep track of who overdoses on drugs, or who had a death that was significantly contributed to by prescription drugs,” Johnson said. “In this case I’m also going to start keeping track of homicides and suicides that are related to drugs. And that is separate from being in the system. These two bodies will undergo forensic and toxicological examination. So in two to three weeks we should have the toxicology back on them. But that clearly is not what caused these two people to die.”

Johnson said he will make killing for drugs a third category he will be watching in tracking prescription drug problems in Scioto County.

“I think that after the investigation bears this out, if indeed this was motivated by drugs and money, I’m going to keep track of that also,” Johnson said.