When Diane Tulloch answered her telephone yesterday afternoon, she would not say how she felt since learning that her son, Robert, 17, had finally been found, but the past few days left her noticeably shaken.
Tulloch declined to comment further, but before hanging up, she told The Dartmouth, "We love our son, and we want the press to know that he is innocent until proven guilty."
She said she did not know when she would next see her son.
The Tulloch residence looked quiet from the outside yesterday morning, with two wooden chairs sitting empty on the front porch and the curtains lowered in the windows that face Main Street. Around town, residents continued to be shocked and reticent, knowing that one of their own might have committed a heinous crime that is garnering national attention.
Math and Physics teacher Paul Callens said faculty and administrators arrived at Chelsea Public School -- a classic whitewashed schoolhouse with an American flag flying outside -- at 7 a.m. yesterday.
"We had a faculty meeting early to brace ourselves for the day that we knew would be tough," he said, explaining that counselors and school Principal Patricia Davenport spoke during the meeting.
Before classes started at 8:30 a.m., the school was under tight wraps. Four guards, including one police officer, were keeping watch outside the building as parents drove up to the school located near the town commons in minivans and pickup trucks to drop off their children.
A few of the students, who approached the school, joked back and forth with the guards, but the mood seemed somber as the crew of four turned away scattered reporters from the typically quiet community school that serves Chelsea and part of the surrounding area.
Callens said that later in the day he heard students complaining about the increasing number of reporters and camera crews that had flocked to their little town.
"They couldn't even go in the store without having somebody put a microphone or a camera in their face," he said.
Despite what Callens classified as a media "intrusion," he taught what was planned on his regular curriculum yesterday.
The school held an assembly for its students yesterday, and members of the Friends of Chelsea group were present throughout the day in case they were needed.
"My attitude is that we didn't do anything wrong, and we need to wait and see what this is going to be like, but in the meantime, I want to get back to business -- to have fun and learn."
Callens taught both Parker and Tulloch and said both were good students who participated in class, generally completed their assignments, were active in the school community and seemed popular.
"I don't think anybody saw this coming," he said. Even now, looking back on his experiences with Tulloch and Parker, Callens said he cannot discern any clues that should have put the school community on guard.
Callens called the alleged double homicide an "aberration" and said "right now, the community is trying to pull together very hard."
Retired physician Brewster Martin, who has practiced medicine in the tightly-knit Chelsea community for 40 years, told The Dartmouth this morning that he was "dumbfounded" by the news.
He described Chelsea as a "delightful little village," where children gather to skate on the centrally located rink in the winter and where cross-country skiing and other sports are popular activities.
Martin worked together on a town recreation committee with John Parker, the father of James Parker, 16, who has been accused of acting in concert with Tulloch, and charged with two counts of double homicide for the deaths of Susanne and Half Zantop.
Martin said John Parker is the chairman of the recreation committee, and described him as "just a wonderful guy," who, in addition to working to improve his community, also runs a "successful contracting business."
Martin said he also knew the Tullochs because he lived across the street from them for about three years before they moved to the 313 Main Street house where they currently live.
Retired Orange County Sheriff Sam Frank, who now lives in Virginia, told The Dartmouth yesterday evening, "I wasn't surprised; I was just upset."
"That's kind of a young age for these kids or any kids to be charged with this kind of crime," he continued. "It's not right for anyone, obviously, to take another person's life."
He described the community as a safe place where community members pull together -- especially in the case of an emergency -- to support one another.
He remembered a flood in the town about five years ago when people teamed up to help neighbors, some of whom were stranded. He also recalled the ice storm of a few years ago that provoked a similar response.
"Lots of people know other people's business," he generalized. "They all bicker back and forth from time to time, but when push comes to shove, and they need to help, they all pull together."
Frank's successor, the current Orange County Sheriff, Dennis McClure, also described Chelsea as a safe community.
He said occasionally there is a break-in at one of the local summer camps and infrequent cases of shop lifting. He also said that "once in a while somebody might drive off without paying for some gas."
In all of the 690 square mile Orange County, which is made up of 17 towns, there is only one traffic light.
He said it is common for the young people of Chelsea and the surrounding towns to travel to places like West Lebanon to shop and go to the movies.
"There's not much to do in a place like Chelsea," he said.
He said he has no idea what connection the two alleged killers could have had with the Zantops or what their motive could have been.