MCALESTER, Okla. – An Oklahoma woman said that the Oscar-nominated film “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” inspired her to create her own signs in the hopes of solving the unsolved 2016 killing of her daughter and another woman.
Totinika Elix, 23, and her friend Emily Morgan, 24, were found shot to death in their car in Pittsburg County at the end of August 2016.
Emily’s mother, Kim Merryman, said her daughter and Totinika drove from Oklahoma City to the McAlester area one night in August.
“For some reason, she felt she needed to go that night,” Kim said.
Their bodies were found inside Emily’s car, which was parked in front of a vacant home in Bache.
Totinika and Emily were both mothers who leave behind grieving families.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has been investigating the case for over a year, but has yet to make any arrests.
OSBI special agents have conducted numerous interviews, collected evidence, and served several search warrants in an effort to solve the case.
The murders remain a mystery.
Now, according to the McAlester News-Capital, the film “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” sparked an idea for Merryman.
In the film, Mildred Hayes, played by Frances McDormand, has signs put up questioning why no arrests have been made in the death of her daughter.
Merryman decided she would do the same thing.
Merryman’s billboard that says “We were murdered less than 7 miles east of here on Aug. 26, 2016” can be seen along U.S. Highway 69 in McAlester.
She told the McAlester News-Capital her sign isn’t meant to criticize the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
“There is a ruthless killer in your community,” the McAlester billboard proclaims. It also includes a request that anyone with information regarding the murders contact the OSBI’s tip line at 800-522-8017.
