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

CNN
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When a gunman perched atop a cliff opened fire on a dozen cars on Kentucky’s Interstate 75, wounding five people, fear gripped surrounding communities and drove a couple into the woods to join the dayslong manhunt for the attacker.

For 11 days, police combed the vast, rugged wilderness of the Daniel Boone National Forest for suspect Joseph Couch, 32, who authorities said texted a woman before the shooting saying he planned to “kill a lot of people” and “kill myself next.”

Five days into the failed manhunt, Fred and Sheila McCoy set out to find Couch in the dense wilderness, hoping to collect a portion of the reward offered for information on him and to bring safety to a community that was on edge after the shooting. According to the Kentucky State Police, a $35,000 reward was being offered for information leading to Couch’s capture.

“You have to understand that this guy has put a strain on the community,” Fred McCoy told CNN. “Anybody who can sit on top of a hill and shoot at cars is dangerous.”

As Couch continued to elude capture day after day, schools were closed, authorities pleaded with nearby residents to avoid the wilderness, businesses were forced to close their doors to customers, and thousands of tips poured in from multiple states.

As community members donated blood to help the five hospitalized victims, law enforcement combed the massive forest that spans an area larger than Los Angeles and New York City combined. After navigating rugged terrain that included sinkholes, caves and thick brush that they had to use machetes to cut through, authorities still have no way of locating Couch.

Then, on Wednesday, the search ended.

During a 30-minute live stream on their YouTube channel, the McCoys told viewers they noticed a group of vultures invading an area. When they approached, they said a strong, foul odor was emanating from the same spot.

“My wife smelled something strong, and even I, who had the flu, could smell it, and it was bad,” Fred McCoy said.

After six days of searching, the McCoys came across a decomposing body.

The livestream ended abruptly, then the couple returned live after their discovery.

“You’re not going to believe this,” Sheila McCoy can be heard saying during the livestream. “Oh my God!”

Like the McCoys, two officers were drawn to the area by vultures circling them and a rotting smell, Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. said Wednesday. The four met in the woods and almost immediately “stumbled upon” the body, he said.

Kentucky State Police later announced that the body, believed to be Couch’s, was found Wednesday afternoon in deep rural brush near Interstate 75 northwest of London, Kentucky, by two officers and the McCoys, but they did not positively identify it as Couch’s.

“We are confident that this concludes the search for Joseph Couch,” Burnett said. “The people of Laurel County can rest … knowing that this manhunt is now over.”

Burnett said police believe the body is Couch’s because items found with the body are associated with him. The body will be sent to Frankfort, the state capital, for positive identification Thursday, the commissioner said at a news conference.

The body was found near Exit 49 of Interstate 75 in Laurel County, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) northwest of London and not far from where the shooting occurred, state police said Wednesday. Earlier, authorities said they found a vehicle registered to Couch on a forest road near Exit 49 with an empty gun case inside.

The cause of death will be determined by autopsy, Burnett said. A weapon was found at the location of the body.

Investigators have not yet announced a motive for the shooting, but said the investigation is ongoing.

“I really wish we could have found Couch alive. We could have asked him what his intentions were,” Laurel County Sheriff John Root said at a news conference Wednesday. “We could have brought him to justice. I wish he was alive and paying for what he did.”

As soldiers searched, voices in the area led them to the civilian couple, who were also separately searching for Couch, Burnett said.

Burnett did not respond to authorities’ earlier warning for people to stay away from the area.

Root praised the couple.

“Congratulations. We’re proud,” he said of the duo. “Our only goal was to get this guy back.”

Jimmy Phelps, coordinator of the Laurel County Crime Stoppers, told CNN Thursday that he expects the couple to 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.

Before the shooting began, Couch texted a woman, “I’m going to kill a lot of people, so I’ll at least try,” according to an arrest warrant issued for his arrest.

Later, less than a half-hour before the shooting, Couch sent another message, according to the arrest warrant: “I’ll kill myself after.”

That day, Couch purchased an AR-15 with a sight and 1,000 rounds of ammunition, totaling nearly $3,000, according to the arrest warrant. The sheriff’s office said Couch made the purchases legally.

Around 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 7, Couch perched atop a cliff on the side of the highway and used an AR-15 to hit 12 cars in Laurel County, about 9 miles north of London, authorities said.

Bullets rained down on I-75, puncturing cars, hitting five travelers and confusing others who heard the noise but didn’t immediately know what it was. Some injuries were serious, with one victim shot in the face and another in the chest, authorities said. The shooting prompted authorities to close the highway for hours.

Although responding officers were unable to immediately find the shooter in the large, densely wooded area near the highway, within a day they had named a suspect — Couch, of Kentucky.

Investigators soon learned of information they believed further linked him to the shooting, including text messages. The woman called 911 after receiving the messages and later showed police screenshots of the interaction, according to the warrant.

The warrant charges him with five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault, Jackie Steele, commonwealth’s attorney for Laurel and Knox counties, told CNN.

Police said they hoped that continued pressure and an intense search effort involving drones, a helicopter, dogs and dozens of officers would lead to the suspect’s capture.

The shooting and manhunt have left communities in the area on edge, as authorities have 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, Sheriff Root said. And some businesses also took precautions, like “doing drive-throughs only outside and locking the doors,” Root said.

“We’ve had schools canceled and churches canceled. People are scared, this is not the normal situation here in Laurel County,” Root said. “Now that this has been discovered, I’m hopeful that our county can get back to normal.”

The shooting on I-75 is at least the second mass shooting on an interstate highway in a week. Five people were shot and injured and another was hit by flying glass in Washington state after a string of shootings along I-5 in the Seattle and Tacoma areas.

At least 397 mass shootings have occurred since the beginning of the year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as those in which four or more victims are shot. That’s an average of more than 1.5 mass shootings per day.