Kentucky couple say they found body later identified as the interstate shooting suspect after scouring the woods for days
By Sharif Paget, Sara Smart, Dalia Faheid and Sarah Dewberry, CNN
(CNN) — When a gunman perched atop a cliff’s ledge opened fire on a dozen cars on Kentucky’s Interstate 75, wounding five people, it permeated surrounding communities with fear – and sent one couple into the woods to join the dayslong manhunt for the assailant.
For eleven days, officers scoured the vast, rugged wilderness of the Daniel Boone National Forest in the manhunt for 32-year-old suspect Joseph Couch, who authorities say texted a woman before the shooting that he planned to “kill a lot of people” and then “kill myself afterwards.”
Five days into the unsuccessful manhunt, Fred and Sheila McCoy set out in search for Couch in the dense wilderness – hoping for a piece of the reward being offered for information on him and aiming to bring safety to the community left on edge after the shooting. A $35,000 reward was available for information leading to Couch’s capture, according to the Kentucky State Police.
“You have to understand, this guy has been stressing this community out,” Fred McCoy told CNN. “Anyone who can sit up on top of a hill and take pop shots at cars is dangerous.”
As Couch continued to evade capture day after day, schools were closed, authorities pleaded for nearby residents to avoid the wilderness, businesses were forced to lock their doors to customers and thousands of tips poured in from several states.
While community members donated blood to help the five hospitalized victims, law enforcement combed the colossal forest, spanning an area larger than Los Angeles and New York City combined. After grappling with treacherous terrain, including sinkholes, caves and thick brush they had to use machetes to slice through, authorities were still unable to locate Couch.
Then on Wednesday, the search came to an end.
In a 30-minute livestream on their YouTube channel, the McCoys told viewers they noticed a group of vultures swarming an area. When they neared it, they said a strong, foul smell emanated from the same spot.
“My wife smelled something strong, and even I with a flu was able to smell it, and it was bad,” Fred McCoy said.
After six days of searching, the McCoys had stumbled upon a decomposing body.
The livestream abruptly ended, then the couple went live again following their discovery.
“You won’t believe it,” Sheila McCoy can be heard saying in the livestream. “Oh my goodness gracious.”
Like the McCoys, two troopers were drawn to the area by circling vultures and an odor of decay, Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. said Wednesday. The four encountered each other in the woods, and almost immediately “stumbled upon” the body, he said.
Kentucky State Police then announced the body authorities confirmed Friday to be that of Couch was found Wednesday afternoon in deep rural brush off Interstate 75 northwest of London, Kentucky, by two troopers and the McCoys.
“The people of Laurel County can rest … much easier knowing that this manhunt has now come to a conclusion,” Burnett said.
The body was found in the vicinity of I-75’s Exit 49 in Laurel County, some 10 miles northwest of London and not far from the shooting site, state police said Wednesday. Earlier, authorities had said they found a vehicle registered to Couch on a forest service road off Exit 49, with an empty gun case inside.
Burnett said police initially believed the body was Couch’s because items found with the body were associated with him.
A weapon was found where the body was located, Burnett said.
“We appreciate everyone involved in the search and are grateful no one else has been hurt,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a news release Friday. “We will continue to be there for those injured as well as the Laurel County community as they recover from this tragic situation.”
The body was positively identified through DNA extracted from bone, state police said in a news release.
“Due to extreme decomposition of the body, the soft tissue DNA test was inconclusive, but today we were able to use bone from the suspect to get a positive identification,” said Kentucky’s Chief Medical Examiner Dr. William Ralston.
The autopsy showed Couch died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Ralston.
Investigators still haven’t announced a motive in the shooting, but they stated the investigation is ongoing.
“I really wish that we could have located … Couch … alive. We could have asked him what his intentions were,” Laurel County Sheriff John Root said at a Wednesday news conference. “We could have put him through the courts … I’d rather he’d been alive, and he could have paid for what he’d done.”
Couple will get a reward, police say
While troopers were searching, voices in the area led them to the civilian couple, who also were separately looking for Couch, Burnett said.
Burnett did not address authorities’ earlier warning to people to stay away from the area.
Root offered praise for the couple.
“Congratulations. We’re proud,” he said about the pair. “Our one goal was to have this guy recovered.”
Laurel County Crime Stoppers Coordinator Jimmy Phelps told CNN on Thursday he expects the couple will receive the full $35,000 reward.
“Now, everyone can rest easy,” Fred McCoy told CNN in a phone call as onlookers could be heard congratulating and thanking the couple.
Shooting left communities on edge
Before the shooting began, Couch texted a woman: “I’m going to kill a lot of people, Well try at least,” according to a warrant for his arrest.
Later, less than half an hour before the shootings, Couch sent another message, according to the arrest warrant: “I’ll kill myself afterwards.”
That day, Couch had bought an AR-15 with a sight and 1,000 rounds of ammunition, paying almost $3,000 in total, the arrest warrant said. According to the sheriff’s office, Couch made the purchases legally.
Around 5:30 p.m. on September 7, Couch perched atop a cliff’s ledge on the side of the interstate and used an AR-15 to strike 12 cars in Laurel County, about 9 miles north of London, authorities said.
Bullets showered down onto I-75, puncturing cars, hitting five travelers and causing confusion among others who heard the noise but didn’t immediately know what it was. Some injuries were severe, with one victim shot in the face and another across the chest, authorities said. The shooting moved authorities to shut down the highway for hours.
Though responding officers couldn’t immediately find the shooter in the vast, densely wooded area near the highway, in less than a day they named a suspect – Couch, of Kentucky.
Investigators soon learned information they said further linked him to the shooting, including the text messages. The woman called 911 after receiving the texts and later showed police screenshots of the interaction, according to the warrant.
The warrant charged him with five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault, Jackie Steele, commonwealth attorney for Laurel and Knox counties, told CNN.
Police said they hoped constant pressure and an intense search effort that involved drones, helicopter, dogs and dozens of officers would lead to the suspect’s capture.
The shooting and manhunt left communities in the area on edge as authorities urged residents to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings.
More than a dozen local school districts and several private schools canceled at least one day of classes last week, Root, the sheriff, said. And some businesses also took precautions, such as “doing outside drive-throughs only and locking the doors,” Root said.
“We’ve had school cancellations, we’ve had church cancellations. People’s been in fear, that’s not the normal here in Laurel County,” Root said. “So now that this has been discovered, I hope that our county can get back to what’s normal.”
The I-75 shooting marked at least the second interstate highway shooting in one week. Five people were wounded by gunfire and another person was hit by flying glass in Washington state after a series of shootings along I-5 in the Seattle and Tacoma areas.
At least 397 mass shootings have taken place so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as those in which four or more victims are shot, an average of more than 1.5 mass shootings every day.
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CNN’s Amy Simonson, Holly Yan and Nick Valencia contributed to this report.
