Kentucky’s Chief Medical Examiner Dr. William Ralston and the state police crime lab have confirmed the unidentified body believed to be Joseph Couch has been positively identified through DNA extracted from bone.
Joseph Couch is the suspect accused of shooting five people September 7 on Interstate Highway 75 in Laurel County.
On September 18, Kentucky State Police troopers and two civilian individuals located a body in the deep brush behind exit 49 in Laurel County. It was announced the personal effects and weapon found with the body were consistent with the suspect, and the Laurel County Corner then transported the body to the medical examiner’s office for official confirmation.
Dr. Ralston said due to extreme decomposition of the body, the soft tissue DNA test was inconclusive, but Friday they were able to use bone from the suspect to get a positive identification.
Thursday in a press release, Dr. Ralston released the cause of death as a wound consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. The official autopsy report will not be available for release until toxicology results return.
The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office will continue to lead the 1-75 shooting investigation.
Source: KSP
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