I have been looking into the Childs/Metzler case and came across this one – 124 miles northeast of Caldwell Fields, nearly a year later. In this case a man was tried and sentenced and it does not appear police have managed to link him to the other crime.
It is a remarkable story for Christina to have survived:
A couple were parked up at a viewpoint watching the sunset when they were shot around 7:45 pm on April 5th 2010. A man described as being around 50 and driving a red Ford Taurus drove up next to them and just started shooting with a shotgun. As they were sitting by the overlook cliff, male victim Tim Davis fell 150ft down the overlook, and needed recovery by mountain rescue. He died four days later from his injuries.
Christina Floyd bravely ran up to the man as he exited the car and began wrestling with him. She says she hadn’t felt the fact that one of the shotgun blasts had peppered her back. He tried to throw her over the cliff but she landed on a ledge 6 feet below. Climbing back up, the fighting continued as he hurled rocks at her and fractured her skull in two places. As he returned to his car to get the shotgun, Christina ran down the Parkway – a husband and wife driving by shortly afterwards picked up the woman and called emergency services.
Ralph Leon Jackson (56) found guilty of murder and attempted murder, one year later.
The area reminds me very much of the Lake Herman Road attack.:
https://goo.gl/maps/D8NBmSwRPdKu8jrm6

Very disappointing that no link to Childs/Metzler is forthcoming.
Full story: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/update-on-the-news/blue-ridge-parkway-shooting-vi.html