Kentucky officials believe they have found the body of the suspected gunman in a highway shooting spree with the help of a couple who were livestreaming their search on YouTube and vultures that were circling the body.
Officials said two state troopers and two civilians, Fred and Sheila McCoy, were simultaneously searching for the suspect in woods in Laurel County on Wednesday when they ran into one another. After they identified themselves to one another, the group found an unidentified body, believed to be that of Joseph A. Couch.
There were "articles associated with the body" that led officials to believe it's Couch, Kentucky State Police Col. Phillip Burnett Jr. said. An official identification is expected Thursday, officials said, adding that there is no indication yet of how Couch died.
"We're very confident that this brings the closure in a search of Joseph Couch," Burnett said, adding later that "the people of Laurel County can rest easy, much easier, knowing that this manhunt has now come to a conclusion."
Authorities had been searching for Couch, 32, since the Sept. 7 shooting next to Interstate 75, 8 miles north of the small city of London. Five people were seriously injured.
Burnett said vultures played a role in finding the body. He said Wednesday night that troopers had been searching the area all day when they noticed vultures circling and that while they were in the woods, they began to smell what appeared to be decomposing flesh.
It was while the troopers were "moving through the thick terrain" trying to locate the smell and the area where the vultures were circling that they heard voices. Those voices were those of a couple who identified themselves as Fred and Sheila McCoy, Burnett said.
"Almost immediately after that interaction between troopers and the McCoys, the troopers and McCoys stumbled upon an unidentified body," Burnett said.
Burnett said that the McCoys have been cooperative and have provided "relevant information" to troopers and that they will receive the allotted money for helping to find the body.
Troopers were still processing the scene Wednesday night, Burnett said, adding that the investigation is still active.
Laurel County Sheriff John Root said at Wednesday's news conference that this is "not the normal here in Laurel County." He said that "now that this has been discovered, I hope that our county can get back to what's normal."
"Our one goal was to have this guy recovered," Root said, noting that Couch’s family has been cooperative throughout the search.
Root said that he is proud of how all parties handled the search and that he wouldn't have changed anything.
The gun used in the shooting, an AR-15 rifle, was purchased legally in London the day of the shooting, authorities said.
Law enforcement officials said the gunman parked near a ridge overlooking the highway to fire upon vehicles. He had around 1,000 rounds of ammunition, most of which has been recovered.
Twelve vehicles were hit, according to the sheriff's office, and an estimated 20 to 30 rounds were fired. Some drivers didn’t realize their vehicles had been struck until hours later.
The dayslong search for Couch, a former Army reservist, involved helicopters and drones with infrared technology, while special response teams and trained dogs tracked him across thousands of acres likened to a jungle.
"The terrain has been treacherous," officials said Wednesday, adding that it was "very hilly" and that "the cover there was so thick" that it was hard for searchers to see even a few feet in front of them.
Couch was charged with five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault. He has no criminal convictions; a charge of making a terrorist threat was dismissed in March, said Jackie Steele, state prosecutor for the region.
Just before the shooting, a woman who shares a child with Couch called dispatchers in Laurel County with a chilling message.
“I’m going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least,” Couch wrote to her, according to an arrest affidavit.
He followed up: “I’ll kill myself afterwards.”
A motive for the attack hasn’t been determined, and officials say there is no indication that Couch was targeting anyone specifically or working with others.
Root said Wednesday that he wishes authorities would have been able to find Couch when he was still alive so they could have asked what his intentions were and so he could have "paid for what he'd done."
