Kentucky couple who found alleged interstate shooter's remains says they turned into 'bounty hunters'

A Kentucky couple credited with helping authorities find the remains of the alleged gunman suspected of shooting at vehicles on Interstate 75 earlier this month said they turned into bounty hunters in an effort to find him. 

Fred and Sheila McCoy, who typically spend their retired days creating YouTube videos about the infamous Hatfield-McCoy feud, spent days in rugged terrain before finding the body of who authorities suspect is Joseph Couch. 

“For one week we turned into bounty hunters,” Fred McCoy told The Associated Press on Thursday. “The more we was watching the news and saw lockdowns and school closings, the more we were compelled to search for him.”

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Couch, 32, is suspected of opening fire on the freeway and wounding five people on Sept. 7. The alleged shooter fired 20 to 30 rounds. The victims were expected to survive, but some sustained serious injuries, authorities said. 

Local, state and federal law enforcement teams searched thousands of miles of acres of woods for the gunman. On Wednesday, the Kentucky State Police confirmed that a body had been found in the vicinity of exit 49 off Interstate 75 in Laurel County.

State police said Wednesday night that the McCoys would receive a $25,000 reward for the find. The body is being sent to the coroner’s office for positive identification. Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday said authorities believe the body is Couch. 

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In a YouTube livestream video made on Wednesday, the McCoys filmed a wooded area being searched when Sheila McCoy, 59, said she smelled a foul odor. 

“Oh, Lord, this is nasty. Oh, my goodness, this is gross,” she is heard saying. 

The couple identified themselves to officers searching the same area about 12 minutes before they found the remains. They also warned police and friends they’d be there, and were livestreaming on YouTube in case something went wrong, Fred McCoy, a retired police officer, said.

“We didn’t know we was going to find him like that,” he said. “We could’ve found him with a gun pointed at us.”

The McCoys decided to help in the search after a Friday night date, said Fred McCoy.

“We were just a crippled old man and crippled old woman walking in the woods,” he said Thursday. Fred McCoy said he is a descendant of a Hatfield-McCoy marriage and they run a small museum related to the history of the feud.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.