A few months ago, Tony Myers picked out a white bicycle for his 8-year-old granddaughter's Christmas present.
It is the last present Gracie will receive from her grandfather.
Three days after Christmas, Myers, 65, was killed in the Granite Falls pawnshop where he worked.
Myers' eldest son, Jody, 42, spoke with him on the phone at about 9:30 a.m. Dec. 28. Myers' other son, Andy, 40, also called him that morning.
"I spoke with him on the phone at about 10 a.m., just to see how he was doing," Andy said.
Sometime between 12:20 p.m. and 1:20 p.m., though, Myers was shot and killed inside Granite Gun and Pawn on South Main Street, said Granite Falls Police Chief Ritch Bolick. A customer who came into the store found Myers on the floor. Guns had been stolen.
Police called Andy first, and he came to the pawnshop immediately. He said he was shocked to get the news. Although the store had a shoplifter or two in the past, it had never had so much as a break-in before.
Jody said his father worked at Granite Gun and Pawn since it opened in September 2008, and enjoyed it.
"Dad had always been involved with guns," he said. "We had the opportunity to open the store, and thought he would like it. Dad seemed to really enjoy it. Customers said he was real friendly."
Although Jody and Andy said their father's safety occasionally crossed their minds, they knew Myers was familiar with guns He attended gun shows and had an interest in them.
"We thought dad would be safe in Granite Falls, because it was a smaller community," Jody said.
That notion was shattered on Dec. 28.
Jody said when he was told his dad was murdered, he thought the killer would be caught immediately.
"At first, I was thinking we would get the guy that day, but I have all the confidence in the world we will catch this guy," he said. "I have all the confidence in the world in the Granite Falls Police Department and the SBI."
The pawnshop has been closed.
"It was difficult to go in the store," Andy said.
That's not the only thing that's hard.
"It's still difficult to think of Dad in the past tense," Andy said.
Jody used to work at a gold store in Statesville, and Andy worked at a gold store in Hickory. Now, although the Statesville store is still open, the brothers work at the Hickory store together.
"You just never know," Jody said.
The brothers plea for the public to help them find the person that killed their father. Andy and Jody said their father was caring, truthful and tender-hearted. His killer deserves to be found.
"We want any type of assistance, no matter how small," Andy said.
Police are looking for a person of interest. The sketch of the man, which has been plastered in stores all over Granite Falls, is of a short, thin, white male with dark hair. There's a $6,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Myers' death. Bolick said he will know by the end of the week if the governor's office has approved increasing the reward to $11,000.
"We feel like if we get just one break, this house of cards will come down," Jody said.
Anyone with information about the crime or the person of interest can call the Granite Falls Police Department at 396-3358, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation at 294-2226 or the Caldwell County Crime stoppers at 758-8300. Callers do not have to identify themselves.
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