North Carolina ? A longtime employee and a laid-off tech worker seeking a job were shot and killed Friday morning during an apparent robbery of a soda bottling plant north of Charlotte.

The bodies of Donna Barnhardt, 59, and Darrell Noles, 44, were found inside the office at Sun-drop Bottling Co in Concord, N.C. Barnhardt had worked at the plant for 18 years, while Noles was an unemployed fiber-optics technician looking for work. His wife was waiting outside in the couple’s car when he was killed.

“She’s in pretty rough shape right now,” said Noles’ wife’s uncle, the Rev. Donnie Tomlin of the Wil-Mar Park Baptist Church in Concord. “We just have to get her through it.”

Concord deputy police chief Guy Smith said a search that included a helicopter and police dogs continued Friday night for the gunman, who was seen running away from the bottling business carrying a box.

“We have 25 to 30 investigators who are following every lead,” Smith said. “When someone is carrying a box from the scene, you want to talk to them.”