The suspect in the Shooting on Kentucky highway A man appears to have been found dead earlier this month, authorities said Wednesday.
The remains are believed to belong to a 32-year-old man. Joseph Couch Bodies were found in the area near Interstate 75 Exit 49 in Laurel County, the same exit where the shooting occurred, Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip “PJ” Burnett, Jr. said at a news conference. A gun was also found with the body.
The unidentified body was discovered around 3:30 p.m. local time by “two soldiers and two civilians” in “thick brush,” Burnett said.
“There were items associated with the body that at this point we believe to be that of Joseph Couch,” the commissioner said.
The body will be sent to the coroner in Frankfort, Kentucky, on Thursday for formal identification. No information has been given on the cause of death.
Couch had been the subject of a manhunt in the southeastern part of the state since five people were shot on Interstate 75 on the evening of September 7.
All five victims are expected to survive the shooting, which occurred near London, a town of about 8,000 people outside the Daniel Boone National Forest.
Timothy D. Easley / AP
Burnett said the two soldiers, who had been involved in the search for Couch throughout the day, saw vultures in the air and, as they tried to find the source of what was attracting them, noticed “a strong odor of what they believed to be rotting flesh.”
Around the same time, officers heard voices and came across a civilian couple, identified as the McCoys, who said they were also looking for the suspect.
“Almost immediately following this interaction … the officers and the McCoys came across an unidentified body,” said Burnett, who thanked the couple for being “very cooperative” and providing officers with “relevant information.”
The McCoys appeared to livestream the discovery on social media. However, Burnett said police were with them when the body was found.
“We had soldiers who were there with them,” Burnett said.
Burnett said the landscape and thick brush made the search difficult, describing the area as “some of the most dangerous terrain in Kentucky.”
State police had warned the public that the suspect should be considered armed and dangerous as authorities spent days searching for him in the dense forest.
Authorities urged residents to check in on their neighbors, avoid outdoor activities and review their security camera footage before returning home from outside. Schools were closed on the whole area in the days following the shooting.
Investigators recovered from an area near the shooting scene an AR-15 rifle and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition that the suspect had legally purchased the day of the shooting, authorities previously said.
Burnett did not regret the way the manhunt was conducted over several days.
“I feel like we did our best, everyone did, every day.”
According to an arrest warrant obtained by CBS News last week, the suspect sent a text message less than 30 minutes before the shooting in which he wrote that he planned to “kill a lot of people.” The woman who received the text message called 911 before the shooting and alerted emergency services, the affidavit states.
The Lexington Herald-Leader identified the woman as the suspect’s ex-wife. Laurel County Sheriff John Root said Wednesday that the motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
According to an army spokesman, the suspect had served in the army reserve for nearly six years as a combat engineer without any deployment.
Kathryn Watson contributed to this report.
