REELFOOT LAKE, Tenn. — The body of a 70-year-old man sought in connection to a double homicide was pulled Saturday afternoon from Reelfoot Lake, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation confirmed.
Authorities had been looking for David Vowell as a person of interest after duck hunters Chance Black, 24, and Zachery Grooms, 25, were found slain Jan. 25 at the north end of the Obion County lake, WHBQ reported.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced the body of David Vowell has been recovered in the waters of Reelfoot Lake, on Saturday. https://t.co/LX7yXAGz8k
— WJHL (@WJHL11) January 31, 2021
An autopsy is pending, but TBI officials confirmed the body recovered from the lake was that of Vowell, WSMV reported.
Jeffrey Crabtree, who was hunting with Black and Grooms at the time of their attack, told authorities that Vowell drove his boat to the trio’s blind, knocked on the door and shot Grooms when he opened the door. Black was also shot before Crabtree wrested the gun from Vowell and hit Vowell in the face with the butt end of the weapon, knocking him temporarily unconscious, USA Today reported.
Crabtree told investigators he then moved the victims to a boat to seek medical attention, but he saw Vowell in the water walking toward the bank as he drove away, the outlet reported.
According to WHBQ, arrest warrants on two counts of first-degree murder were issued for Vowell when the manhunt for him began, but investigators quickly realized there were no signs the suspect left the lake area and shifted their search efforts to the water.
Cox Media Group
