2:15 p.m.: A hostess at the Sturbridge, Mass., truckstop restaurant where the 1987 Audi was found said she believes she saw Robert Tulloch and James Parker -- the two boys wanted for the murders of Susanne and Half Zantop.
Sharon Palmer was working Friday evening at the Sturbridge Isle restaurant when she saw a young man kneeling on a bench that looks out into the parking lot where truckers pay their tolls, she said.
Palmer told The Dartmouth that she first saw James Parker, 16, at around 4 p.m. Friday. A cook in the restaurant told her that he saw who he believes was Parker and Robert Tulloch, 17, of Chelsea Vt., getting out of the silver Audi that police found this morning.
They parked in the employees' parking lot a little before 4:00 p.m. Friday, according to the cook.
Palmer said that Parker appeared to be upset, but she did not for sure if he was crying. He did not look directly at her, but wiped his eyes "like you would wipe tears away," and got off the bench.
The boy she believes was Parker was wearing a small back pack, Palmer said, something like one might use for an overnight trip. It did not appear full, she said.
Later that evening, another woman who works at the truckstop complex, Kim Dodge, asked Palmer if she had seen two boys, because Dodge had seen them hanging around all day. Another woman who works with Palmer asked her if she had seen two boys wearing back packs.
Palmer told them that she had, and they informed her that the boys were asking truckers for rides across the country. Palmer said another person told her that the boys bought toothbrushes in the gift shop.
Palmer said she believes she saw Tulloch later going into the men's restroom with Parker. She was concerned that they might be runaways so she asked a truck driver to go into the bathroom to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"I thought it was strange because they were awful young to be going cross-country," Palmer said.
But by the time the driver went into the bathroom, the boys were gone, Palmer said.
She said that they must have left the truckstop, probably with a truck driver, between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. Friday.
The four-door Audi driven by the Parker and Tulloch was found this morning at the truckstop parking lot.
Massachusetts State Police Sergent Dale Kiley told The Dartmouth that the silver 1987 Audi with Vermont license plates was found at approximately 10:20 a.m. today in the parking lot of the Sturbridge Isle truck stop.
