A homicide investigation is underway after a missing Dallas man was found shot to death and burned in a rural field in southern Oklahoma.
According to the Love County Sheriff’s Office, emergency crews and sheriff’s deputies discovered a charred male body on July 30 while responding to a reported grass fire along Highway 32, west of State Highway 96, near the Texas-Oklahoma border.
Investigators with the Love County Sheriff’s Office subsequently identified the victim by matching visible body tattoos against law enforcement databases, confirming he was the subject of a Dallas Police Department missing person case. Family members reported the victim missing on July 29 after he failed to make contact on his birthday, according to FOX 4 News. While next of kin have been notified of his death, Oklahoma authorities have not yet officially released his name to the public.
An autopsy conducted by the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s Office revealed that the man suffered four gunshot wounds to the chest, and his death was ruled a homicide. Based on physical evidence collected at the scene, Love County authorities determined that the victim was killed at another location before his body was transported across state lines, dumped in the field, and set on fire.
The Love County Sheriff’s Office and the Dallas Police Department’s Homicide Unit are currently conducting a joint investigation to identify potential suspects and establish where the primary crime took place. Law enforcement officials are urging anyone who may have seen suspicious activity near Highway 32 in Love County on July 30, or who has information regarding the victim’s whereabouts, to come forward.
No suspects have been named, and no arrests have been made as of Thursday morning.
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