Joseph Couch: Kentucky couple say they found the body of the I-75 shooting suspect after scouring the woods for days

CNN
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When a gunman perched atop a cliff’s ledge opened fireplace on a dozen vehicles on Kentucky’s Interstate 75, wounding 5 individuals, it permeated surrounding communities with worry – and despatched one couple into the woods to affix the dayslong manhunt for the assailant.

For eleven days, officers scoured the huge, rugged wilderness of the Daniel Boone Nationwide Forest within the manhunt for 32-year-old suspect Joseph Sofa, who authorities say texted a girl earlier than the taking pictures that he deliberate to “kill lots of people” after which “kill myself afterwards.”

5 days into the unsuccessful manhunt, Fred and Sheila McCoy set out in seek for Sofa within the dense wilderness – hoping for a chunk of the reward that was being provided for data on him and aiming to carry security to the group that was left on edge after the taking pictures. A $35,000 reward was obtainable for data resulting in Sofa’s seize, in keeping with the Kentucky State Police.

“It’s a must to perceive, this man has been stressing this group out,” Fred McCoy advised CNN. “Anybody who can sit up on high of a hill and take pop photographs at vehicles is harmful.”

As Sofa continued to evade seize day after day, faculties have been closed, authorities pleaded for close by residents to keep away from the wilderness, companies have been compelled to lock their doorways to prospects and 1000’s of ideas poured in from a number of states.

Whereas group members donated blood to assist the 5 hospitalized victims, regulation enforcement combed the colossal forest spanning an space bigger than Los Angeles and New York Metropolis mixed. After grappling with treacherous terrain, together with sinkholes, caves and thick brush they needed to use machetes to slice by way of, authorities have been nonetheless unable to find Sofa.

Then on Wednesday, the search got here to finish.

In a 30-minute livestream on their YouTube channel, the McCoys advised viewers they observed a bunch of vultures swarming an space. Once they neared it, they stated a robust foul odor emanated from the identical spot.

“My spouse smelled one thing robust, and even I with a flu was capable of odor it, and it was dangerous,” Fred McCoy stated.

After six days of looking out, the McCoys had stumbled upon a decomposing physique.

The livestream abruptly ended, then the couple went stay once more following their discovery.

“You received’t imagine it,” Sheila McCoy may be heard saying within the livestream. “Oh my goodness gracious.”

Just like the McCoys, two troopers have been drawn to the realm by circling vultures and an odor of decay, Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. stated Wednesday. The 4 encountered one another within the woods, and virtually instantly “stumbled upon” the physique, he stated.

Kentucky State Police then introduced the physique, believed to be Sofa, was discovered Wednesday afternoon in deep rural brush off Interstate 75 northwest of London, Kentucky, by two troopers and the McCoys, however they haven’t positively recognized that it belongs to Sofa.

“We’re very assured that this brings the closure within the seek for Joseph Sofa,” Burnett stated. “The individuals of Laurel County can relaxation … a lot simpler realizing that this manhunt has now come to a conclusion.”

The physique was discovered within the neighborhood of I-75’s Exit 49 in Laurel County, some 10 miles northwest of London and never removed from the taking pictures website, state police stated Wednesday. Earlier, authorities had stated they discovered a car registered to Sofa on a forest service highway off Exit 49, with an empty gun case inside.

Burnett stated police imagine the physique is Sofa’s as a result of objects discovered with the physique are related to him.

A weapon was discovered the place the physique was positioned, Burnett stated.

A delicate tissue DNA take a look at was inconclusive, Kentucky State Police stated in a press release Thursday night. DNA will subsequent be extracted from the bone and people take a look at outcomes might take 24 to 48 hours.

“The post-mortem revealed the reason for demise to be a wound in step with a self-inflicted gunshot to the pinnacle,” Chief Medical Examiner Dr. William Ralston stated within the assertion. “As well as, we’re performing a toxicology take a look at to confirm if any medicine have been current.”

Investigators nonetheless haven’t introduced a motive within the taking pictures, however they acknowledged that the investigation is ongoing.

“I actually want that we might have positioned … Sofa … alive. We might have requested him what his intentions have been,” Laurel County Sheriff John Root stated at a Wednesday information convention. “We might have put him by way of the courts … I’d moderately he’d been alive, and he might have paid for what he’d performed.”

Whereas troopers have been looking out, voices within the space led them to the civilian couple, who additionally have been individually on the lookout for Sofa, Burnett stated.

Burnett didn’t deal with authorities’ earlier warning to individuals to avoid the realm.

Root provided reward for the couple.

“Congratulations. We’re proud,” he stated concerning the pair. “Our one objective was to have this man recovered.”

Laurel County Crime Stoppers Coordinator Jimmy Phelps advised CNN on Thursday he expects the couple will obtain the total $35,000 reward.

“Now, everybody can relaxation straightforward,” Fred McCoy advised CNN in a telephone name as onlookers may very well be heard congratulating and thanking the couple.

Earlier than the taking pictures started, Sofa texted a girl: “I’m going to kill lots of people, Nicely attempt at the least,” in keeping with a warrant for his arrest.

Later, lower than half an hour earlier than the shootings, Sofa despatched one other message, in keeping with the arrest warrant: “I’ll kill myself afterwards.”

That day, Sofa had purchased an AR-15 with a sight and 1,000 rounds of ammunition, paying virtually $3,000 in whole, the arrest warrant stated. In response to the sheriff’s workplace, Sofa made the purchases legally.

Round 5:30 p.m. on September 7, Sofa perched atop a cliff’s ledge on the facet of the interstate and used an AR-15 to strike 12 vehicles in Laurel County, about 9 miles north of London, authorities stated.

Bullets showered down onto I-75, puncturing vehicles, hitting 5 vacationers and inflicting confusion amongst others who heard the noise however didn’t instantly know what it was. Some accidents have been extreme, with one sufferer shot within the face and one other throughout the chest, authorities stated. The taking pictures moved authorities to close down the freeway for hours.

Although responding officers couldn’t instantly discover the shooter within the huge, densely wooded space close to the freeway, in lower than a day they named a suspect – Sofa, of Kentucky.

Investigators quickly discovered data they stated additional linked him to the taking pictures, together with the textual content messages. The girl referred to as 911 after receiving the texts and later confirmed police screenshots of the interplay, in keeping with the warrant.

The warrant charged him with 5 counts of tried homicide and 5 counts of first-degree assault, Jackie Steele, commonwealth legal professional for Laurel and Knox counties, advised CNN.

Police stated they hoped fixed stress and an intense search effort that concerned drones, helicopter, canine and dozens of officers would result in the suspect’s seize.

The taking pictures and manhunt left communities within the space on edge as authorities urged residents to be vigilant and conscious of their environment.

Greater than a dozen native faculty districts and several other non-public faculties canceled at the least at some point of courses final week, Root, the sheriff, stated. And a few companies additionally took precautions, equivalent to “doing exterior drive-throughs solely and locking the doorways,” Root stated.

“We’ve had faculty cancellations, we’ve had church cancellations. Folks’s been in worry, that’s not the traditional right here in Laurel County,” Root stated. “So now that this has been found, I hope that our county can get again to what’s regular.”

The I-75 taking pictures marked at the least the second interstate freeway taking pictures in a single week. 5 individuals have been wounded by gunfire and one other particular person was hit by flying glass in Washington state after a collection of shootings alongside I-5 in Seattle and Tacoma areas.

Not less than 397 mass shootings have taken place thus far this 12 months, in keeping with the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as these by which 4 or extra victims are shot. That’s a mean of greater than 1.5 mass shootings every single day.