Kentucky State Police and the Laurel County Sheriff’s Department say they believe a body found near Exit 49 off I-75 is likely Joseph Couch.
“We are very confident this brings closure in the search for Joseph Couch,” KSP Commissioner P.J. Burnett said during a press conference in London Wednesday night.
The remains were found a short time after 4 p.m. on Wednesday, the 12th day of the search for Couch after he fired shots hitting 12 vehicles and wounded five people on Saturday, September 7.
WLEX reported that Fred McCoy was the individual who found the body not far from where the shootings happened. He said he was drawn to the area by presence of about 50 vultures.
“The community needed some relief,” McCoy said. “It’s just not us, there’s several people out here that’s been looking…but we just kept coming back. . . It’s important because everybody has been disrupted. You have a coward here that shot five people out here on a cliff for no reason whatsoever.”
During Wednesday night’s  press conference, officials said items “associated” with Couch were found near  the body. The McCoys will receive the $25,000 reward for their role in finding the body.
“The people of Laurel County can rest easier,” Burnett said. He added that the cause of death will be confirmed in an autopsy. A weapon was found at the site.
Laurel County Sheriff John Root said people in the community have been in fear since the shooting.
“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.,” he said. “I don’t think anybody on this stage wished that we would have found him in the condition that we found. I’d rather he’d been alive and he could have paid for what he’s done.”