Body found along Interstate 55 identified

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- A body found along Interstate 55 Tuesday was identified as a Tennessee man.

Gordon Lee Williams, 62, of Harrogate, Tenn., was found by a construction worker resurfacing at I-55 in a wooded area along Missouri Route H, according to Pemiscot County Sheriff Tommy Greenwell.

Greenwell said the body's decomposition indicates it had been there for over a month. Williams' vehicle had been towed from I-55 on March 15 by the Missouri State Highway Patrol after being abandoned at the 11.2 mile marker.

Following the investigation by the sheriff's office, the patrol's Division of Drugs and Crime Control, Claibourne County, Tenn., Sheriff's Department and the Pemiscot County coroner's office, the cause of death was listed as suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.