Father, daughter in Green Cove Springs triple murder laid to rest

GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. — The Green Cove Springs community came together and said goodbye to a daughter and father killed in a triple murder.

Valorie Short and her father Buddy Short were killed by Valorie's ex-boyfriend Murray Lancaster last Tuesday in Green Cove Springs.

Lancaster also murdered his ex-wife Erica Green before he killed himself.

Approximately 1,000 people packed First Black Creek Baptist church in Penney Farms on Monday at services for Valorie and Buddy Short.

"You see this turnout here. That makes you proud of living in Green Cove Springs," said family friend David Brown.

He said Valorie Short would stay over with his daughter and that he knew Buddy Short like a brother.

"It's so emotional it's hard to keep from breaking up," said Brown. "This is beautiful. This  is what any person would want is they were to part from this earth. They would love this kind of support and caring."

Jack Revels is also a family friend who went to school with Buddy Shorts' mother.

"I've lived here since 1946 and it's probably one of the worst tragedies that  I have witnessed," said Revels.

Following the service, friends and family gathered graveside as the bodies of Valorie and Buddy Short went to their final resting place and then balloons were released into the sky.

Action News Jax asked if the community ever be the same.

"There's a hole there that will not get filled," Revels said.

A funeral for Erica Green is planned for Tuesday at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church of Middleburg.

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