LONDON, Ky. ( WDKY ) — Authorities believe the body of a man suspected of shooting and wounding five people on a Kentucky interstate highway has been found.
Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. said during a press conference that the body found Wednesday is believed to be Joseph Couch, of Woodbine, Kentucky.
Burnett said accessories found with the body have led them to conclude it is him. A weapon was also found at the site. He said the cause of death will be determined in an autopsy.
Authorities hoped the discovery would end an intense, nearly two-week search that had area residents on edge.
“People have been in fear,” Laurel County Sheriff John Root said during the press conference. “That’s not the normal here in Laurel County. So now that this has been discovered, I hope that our county can get back to what’s normal.”
Who is Joseph Couch? Alleged I-75 shooter warned he was going to ‘kill a lot of people’
Kentucky State Police said on X that troopers located the body near Exit 49 on Interstate 75, just outside of the small town of London. Burnett said troopers had been in contact with a couple, Fred and Sheila McCoy, who were also searching the area with a group at the time.