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Vehicle in homicide investigation discovered

NEW CUMBERLAND — Hancock County investigators are hopeful developments this week will lead to arrests in connection to the discovery of a body in Hancock County Sunday afternoon.

Chief Deputy Art Watson of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department confirmed Tuesday afternoon that a vehicle of interest had been discovered in Columbiana County Monday. The fire-damaged Range Rover, which was a rental vehicle bearing New York license plates, had been found on McIntosh Road.

The vehicle of interest was the subject of a Sunday evening alert in Western Pennsylvania and Southern Columbiana County.

Columbiana County Sheriff Ray Stone reported that dispatch received a call about a burning vehicle in a field shortly after midnight Monday in the 1700 block of McIntosh Road in Madison Township.

This would have been almost five hours before the body was discovered and eight hours before the alert was issued by West Virginia officials.

The 2020 Range Rover was owned by EAN Holdings of Tulsa, Okla., according to investigators.

The tradename for EAN Holdings is Enterprise Holdings, which offers rental vehicles, and the vehicle had not been reported stolen.

According to Stone, Hancock County investigators came up to inspect the remnants of the burned out vehicle. Stone referred any further questions to them.

Hancock County deputies had been called around 4:30 p.m. Sunday to the scene along Racetrack Road, where it appears someone dumped the man’s body.

Watson was able to confirm as of Tuesday afternoon that the victim, who was described as a Caucasian man in his late 20s or early 30s, had sustained a gunshot to his head.

The man also was tattooed.

Detectives had attended the morning autopsy on Tuesday. He added that the final report wouldn’t be complete for months due to toxicology reports.

The case remains a homicide investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call (304) 564-4100.

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