Dunklin sheriff calls body found in ditch a homicide

KENNETT, Mo. -- An Independence Township maintenance crew found the body of a man, believed to be 20 to 25 years old, in a Dunklin County ditch Wednesday morning while they were completing road work.

Dunklin County Sheriff Bob Holder said Wednesday evening the death has been ruled a homicide.

While work crew members said the man's throat appeared to have been slit, the sheriff said he could not comment on a cause of death until an autopsy has been completed.

Holder said he had no reason to believe the victim was from the immediate area, and his department had no reports of a missing man that matched the victim.

"It's been over a year since we've had a homicide in Dunklin County," he said, though authorities are analyzing other skeletal remains found in Kennett last month.