Published: May 07, 2008 12:37 pm            

Police identify body found

A random discovery by a passer-by in Coryell County may have solved a Henderson County mystery.

Tool Police believe a body found Tuesday is probably the remains of 46-year-old John Robert Ivy of 145 Lake Drive in Tool. Ivy was last seen in the Cedar Creek Lake area in February. Tool Asst. Police Chief Kendell Wellman said a wallet found with the body contained Ivy’s identification.

Ivy had been reported missing by his roommate Feb. 19. Officers entered his name and identifying data into the Texas Crime Information Center/National Crime Information Center files.

Coryell County Sheriff Johnny Burks said his office received a 9-1-1 call Tuesday night from a citizen who had stopped at a roadside park on U.S. Highway 84, three miles east of Evant. When deputies arrived the caller led them to the body. Investigators at the scene said the man appeared to have been dead for some time. Evidence also indicated the man may have sustained a gunshot wound.

On March 18, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper discovered Ivy’s abandoned 1984 Chevrolet truck near Brownwood, about 60 miles from where the body was discovered.

On Wednesday, Tool police officers were informed by Coryell County Sheriff’s Department investigators that they found a body along with Ivy’s identification. A Coryell County justice of the peace ordered the body to be sent to the Southwest Institute of Forensic Sciences for an autopsy.

“The remains have been sent to the medical examiner for DNA comparison,” Wellman said. “We’re just waiting to get a good ruling on the ID and the cause of death.”

Texas Rangers Jesse Ramos of Coryell County and Trace McDonald of Henderson County are investigating the death.

        

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