DRUG CHARGES MAY HAVE SCARED COUPLE

BEDFORD, Ind. - A grieving mother said her son and daughter-in-law may have
killed themselves because they could not stand the thought of being
separated. William L. Reynolds, 37, and his wife, Gudrun, 34, of
Springville, were found dead Thursday in a hot tub at a Greenwood motel.

An autopsy showed the couple had taken dozens of sleeping pills and had been
drinking liquor and wine. However, the cause of death has not been
determined officially, said Johnson County Coroner Charles Shufflebarger.

William Reynolds' mother, Janice Asbell Reynolds of Oolitic, theorized her
son and daughter-in-law may have panicked over their arrests on drug
charges. They were held overnight Tuesday in the Lawrence County Jail on
preliminary charges of harvesting marijuana and maintaining a common
nuisance. They were released Wednesday morning after posting $2,000 bail.

About 8 p.m., they checked into the Red Carpet Inn Fantasuites near I-65 and
Main Street in Greenwood. A maid found their bodies in the hot tub about
noon Thursday.

Police found receipts from two Bedford area drugstores for over-the-counter
sleeping pills. The receipts showed the drugs had been purchased between
6:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Wednesday.

Shufflebarger also said a container for prescription sleeping pills was
found in the room.

Lawrence County Sheriff Kent Hawkins said the couple had been under
investigation for 18 months.

"We got a tip from concerned citizens that they were growing marijuana,"
Hawkins said.

Lawrence Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Michael A Robbins issued a search
warrant Tuesday, allowing police to search for and seize marijuana and
materials used to cultivate marijuana at the Reynoldses' mobile home and a
shed on the property.

Hawkins said deputies seized marijuana valued at between $35,000 and
$50,000.

"They had a very elaborate growing operation in a shed behind their mobile
home," Hawkins said. "They had plants in various stages of growth, and
there were records on computer we impounded listing how the plants were
being fed and when."

Hawkins said the confiscated marijuana weighed 261/2 pounds. "It was in
various forms: growing, drying, cut up and in bags to sell," he explained.
The Reynolds family is shocked by the couple's deaths.

"We are just devastated," Janice Reynolds said. "He was my baby - the
youngest of three . . ."

Janice Reynolds said her son met Gudrun while serving in the Army. William
Reynolds was a detailer for area auto dealers, Janice Reynolds said. She
described her daughter-in-law as "very smart."

"She and my daughter and their sister-in-law co-owned The Enchanted Florist
Etc. in Bedford," she said. "She could make beautiful flower arrangements."
The police raid on their property in Springville scared the couple, Janice
Reynolds said.

"They were a very loving couple," she said. "We think they just couldn't
stand to be separated."

Services for the couple will be Monday at 1 p.m. at Day & Carter Mortuary,
Bedford. Call-ing will be Sunday from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Monday from 9
a.m. until services.