Butler County Major Case Squad activated after fisherman finds body

BUTLER COUNTY, Mo. (KBSI) – The Butler County Major Case Squad was activated Saturday after a fisherman found the body of a male in Butler County.

Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs says around 8 p.m. on Saturday, September 7 a fisherman found a body on a path a few yards off near County Road 611 in southern Butler County.

Sheriff Dobbs says when law enforcement responded, it was apparent it was a homicide.

Butler County Coroner Jim Akers says an autopsy was completed Monday and he is waiting on results. He has not released an official cause of death.

Sheriff Dobbs says the Butler County Major Case Squad has been working around the clock and following several leads since Saturday.

“We’ve been following leads around the clock since then. The Major Case Squad consists of our agency with Butler County Coroner’s Office, Police Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.”

Police are working on the open investigation before they release information of the victim.

Dobbs says the fisherman realized there was a dead body near the river after a few hours.

“Initially, the fisherman didn’t get close enough to the individual that was laying on the ground to tell whether they were deceased or not. A few hours later he checked back on the person to see if they had moved. He checked a little further into the situation and realized that he was deceased.”

When police got to the scene, they activated The Butler County Major Case Squad where about 25 officers are on this investigation following leads to find the suspect.

The Butler County Sheriff’s Department is not releasing more information at this time. 

They’re conducting several interviews and feel they are getting close to having a better understanding of what happened Saturday evening. 

“We feel confident about the leads that we have, and we have several people of interest that we’ve been interviewing.”