Human remains positively identified as the Kentucky highway shooter

Human remains found in Kentucky were identified as those of the man who shot 12 vehicles and wounded five people on Interstate 75 more than a week earlier, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Friday.

The retired couple who found the remains of Joseph Couch on Wednesday typically spend their days creating YouTube videos about the Hatfield-McCoy feud but told the Associated Press they “turned into bounty hunters” for a week.

Because the body was in an extreme state of decomposition, it could not be positively identified right away.

Although personal effects and weapons found with the body pointed to Couch, a soft tissue DNA test was inconclusive, Kentucky Chief Medical Examiner William Ralston said in a news release. Ralston’s office used bone to get a positive identification Friday. The cause of death was a wound consistent with a gunshot to the head, he said.

The shootings led to an intensive search in a rugged, hilly area of southeastern Kentucky near London, a community of about 8,000 people some 75 miles south of Lexington. Several school districts were closed during the search and residents said they took extra precautions, such as not allowing children to play outside.

“We appreciate everyone involved in the search and are grateful no one else has been hurt,” Beshear said in the news release announcing the identification. “We will continue to be there for those injured as well as the Laurel County community as they recover from this tragic situation.”