The body of the deceased individual found Tuesday morning has been officially confirmed as Jamison W Stephens, age 24 of Russell Springs KY.
Columbia Police Officer’s Brad Scholl and Detective Tracy McCarol attended the autopsy at the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Louisville KY Wednesday morning , notified the department at approximately 9:50 a.m. of the positive ID of the body found in a vehicle parked on the campus of LWC.
After confirming with Adair County Coroner Todd Akin the death notification had been made to next of kin we can say that the body is Stephens.
Stephens’s body was located in the back seat of a 2007 Dodge truck Tuesday morning by faculty of the college. The faculty had been searching for the origin of a odor that had been reported since Sunday June 2. Stephens was a commuter student and the last known time he was seen was last Thursday, May 30 but he had not been reported to authorities as missing.
Although there were indicators of the body being that of Stephens with word spreading quickly and some media outlets confirming ID (the Community Voice asked an official about this and was told at least one radio station said the body had been confirmed when it had not), Columbia Police or the Coroner’s Office could not and would not make that official determination due to the decomposition of the body.
The body was believed to have been in the vehicle for 4 to 5 days before being found and dental records were used in the ID process. After the completion of the autopsy no foul play is expected and toxicology report is pending 4-6 weeks. The case will remain under investigation by Ofc. Scholl and Detective McCarol.
- Sgt. Jr. Murphy takes fingerprints from a pickup truck where a body was found Tuesday.
