Death Of Man Found In Whitley County Ditch Ruled A Homicide
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
WHITLEY COUNTY - The cause of death of the Fort Wayne man found Monday along the road on CR 700E between Ind. 14 and CR 500S in Whitley County was determined to be a homicide.
According to a news release from Whitley County Coroner Scott A. Smith, provided by the Indiana State Police, an autopsy was performed at Northeast Indiana Forensic Center on Tuesday and the preliminary report was filed with the Whitley County Coroner’s Office.
The victim was preliminary identified as Curtis Edward Thomas, 30, Fort Wayne. The Whitley County coroner ruled the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the chest and the manner of death to be homicide.
Investigating the scene were the ISP, Whitley County Sheriff’s Department and the Whitley County Coroner’s Office.
According to the original news release on the death from the ISP, at approximately 12:45 p.m. Monday, an on-duty ISP trooper traveling on CR 700E, just north of Ind. 14, came across the body of a deceased man lying in a side ditch. Detectives from the Fort Wayne Post immediately responded to the scene, as well as investigators with the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department and the Whitley County Coroner’s Office.
The body was positively identified as that of Thomas and notification was made to his family members.
This is an active and ongoing criminal investigation.
Anyone that may have information that can assist detectives with this investigation is asked to call the ISP Fort Wayne Post at 260-432-8661.
