CONYERS, Ga.,None — Police literally "beat the bushes" Thursday searching for a weapon in the slaying of a mother whose body was discovered by her teenage twin daughters.
Nikki Whitehead, 34, was stabbed to death, according to Conyers police.
Channel 2 Action News reporter Richard Elliot was at the slaying scene on Appaloosa Way in the Bridle Ridge Walk subdivision Thursday morning.
Police officers used batons to search an area near the house covered by bushes, according to Elliot.
Jarmecca Nikki Whitehead IM Nikki Whitehead Jarmecca Nikki Whitehead
Whitehead's daughters told police they discovered her body when they got home from school on Wednesday afternoon.
Neighbors told Channel 2 Action News reporter Linda Stouffer that they saw the 15-year-old twins crying after they apparently discovered their mother's body in the gated community.
A representative for the sheriff's office said the teenagers flagged down Rockdale County sheriff's deputies for help.
The deputies were already in the neighborhood serving a warrant on an unrelated case, the representative said. When deputies went to the location, they found Whitehead's body inside the home.
Conyers police, who are assisting with the investigation, ruled the woman's death a homicide. Police said the woman was stabbed once in the back.
Conyers police Chief David Cathcart told WSB-TV Channel 2 that he is not ready to discuss specifics of the case.