DATE: Friday, September 5, 1997             TAG: 9709050637

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: SPOTSYLVANIA, VA.                 LENGTH:   56 lines

SPOTSYLVANIANS WORRYING AT START OF SCHOOL YEAR

Jennifer Perryman had hoped her senior year in high school would be a magical and exciting time, but now she just wants to get it behind her.

Like many other Spotsylvania County teen-age girls, the knowledge that a serial killer is still on the loose has left her watchful and suspicious.

``I just want to get this year over with,'' said Jennifer, 17, as she waited for her school bus on the first morning of school Tuesday.

``My parents are pretty concerned, and it does affect you,'' she said. ``I just watch everyone. You have to.''

Parents, students, school officials and police were nervous as a new school year began without an arrest in the deaths of three young girls.

All three were abducted from their homes after classes during the past school year. Forensic tests show that the same person who killed Sofia Silva, 16, last September also killed sisters Kristin Lisk, 15, and Kati Lisk, 12, in May.

Police have sifted through more than 8,000 leads but have no prime suspect.

Many people here believe the killer knew that his victims were home without their parents after school, and may have tracked their school buses.

``Of course we're all very apprehensive of what this idiot may do out there,'' Sheriff Ronald Knight said as he announced new school bus safety measures last week.

Bus drivers will keep more detailed trip logs this year and are supposed to use their radios to report anything suspicious.

More parents planned to drive their children to school this year, said Leslie Sorkhe, leader of a citizens safety group that formed after the Lisk killings.

Parents also organized neighborhood ``safe houses'' where latchkey children can check in after school, and school officials hope more of Spotsylvania's 16,900 students will stay after school for extracurricular activities.

``We just need to exercise caution,'' said Assistant Superintendent James A. Meyer. ``We should not have fear about getting on with our lives, but we should exercise caution.''

Parents who can will meet their children's buses in the afternoon, said Barbara Wolfe, whose 7-year-old daughter started second grade this year.

``She asked me before school if I would be at the bus stop. I don't know if (the killings) are the whole reason, but that's part of it,'' Mrs. Wolfe said after seeing her daughter off Tuesday.

The Wolfe family attends church with Ron and Patti Lisk, and their children were acquainted, Mrs. Wolfe said.

``I was thinking about Ron and Patti this morning and it was really sad. I know they're thinking about this being the start of school,'' Mrs. Wolfe said.

The Lisks had no other children.

Jennifer Perryman said she will take extra precautions when she is home alone after school and at other times this year.

``It's a little scary when you walk down the street and you know they haven't caught him,'' she said. ``The person who did all that could be one of your neighbors.''

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