The search for the killer of three Manheim Township family members has led investigators to a local high school.

Police have been conducting interviews at Manheim Township High School during recent days, as part of their massive hunt for the person who stabbed to death Tom and Lisa Haines and their 16-year-old son, Kevin.

The family was brutally killed May 12 on the second floor of their home in Blossom Hill. The Haines' 20-year-old daughter, Maggie Haines, escaped unharmed and called 911.

Manheim Township police Sgt. Thomas Rudzinski said investigators have no suspects in the killings, but they are hoping students at the high school can provide a profile of Kevin Haines.

"Kevin was a student there, so we are talking to his friends," Rudzinski said. "We are doing 'victimology' on all three (victims). We are trying to find out who they were and why they were targeted."

Rudzinski said investigators have not identified a suspect or person of interest at the high school, and they aren't certain they will find one there.

He said police also have spoken with co-workers and friends of Tom and Lisa Haines during the "victimology" process. Mr. Haines was an industrial supplies salesman for Motion Industries, and his wife was a nursery school teacher at Lancaster Church of the Brethren.

"We are trying to find out who the Haines family was," Rudzinski said.

So far, investigators have not uncovered a motive for the slayings through the victims' peers.

"Nothing has really jumped out yet," Rudzinski said Monday night.

Part of the investigation has moved to Manheim Township High School, police said, because that's where many people came into contact with Kevin.

Kevin was stabbed with a knife several times in the chest and his neck was cut on the morning of May 12, investigators said. Investigators said they are trying to determine if anyone bullied Kevin or considered him an enemy. The sophomore was a member of the school's Quiz Bowl team.

"That is one theory that has come up, and we are looking at it," Rudzinski said of a possible bullying situation. "We haven't ruled out anything. We are keeping every single door open."

Manheim Township superintendent Kevin Singer said Neil Harkins, the township's chief of police, contacted him last week about doing interviews at the high school.

"There is an overwhelming community interest to have this thing solved," Singer said. "We could have said no, but we didn't want to do anything to impede the investigation. We didn't want to be the ones standing in the way."

Police are contacting parents before conducting interviews with students. Some parents have decided to come to the school and monitor the interviews, while others have not, Singer said.

School and police officials could not say how many students had been questioned through Monday.

Singer said the triple homicide at 85 Peach Lane has "shaken up" the high school's students.

"We are getting ready to start finals, and that is a stressful time at any school," Singer said. The tragedy "has added another level of anxiety to it.

"It's a really difficult time."

A counseling session was held Monday night at the high school. The Lancaster County Critical Incident Stress Management Response Team, a group of clinical professionals, made a presentation to parents and students during the session.

"This is one of those things that never quite leaves your thinking," Singer said. "It's always there in the background."

The triple homicide investigation also has been stressful — and frustrating — for investigators.

"We are still working. We haven't slacked off," Rudzinski said Monday night while driving home from another long day on the case.

His route home includes a daily reminder of the tragedy — the cemetery where the Haineses were laid to rest.

"I just drove by their graves," he said. "That drives me nuts every time."

E-mail: bhambright@lnpnews.com