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Last updated on Thursday, February 19, 2015
(ODON) - Police in Alabama are reporting a man wanted in connection in the murder of 33-year-old Travis Woodruff of Odon apparently committed suicide along Interstate 10 near Mobile.
Police discovered Woodruff's body was found outside in the snow just before 9 p.m. Tuesday at his home in the 106 Edwards Lane in Odon.
The Greene County Daily World reports the original 911 call indicated Woodruff had been the victim of a shooting, but authorities have not released an exact cause of death.
"We have not received an exact cause of death," said Daviess County Sheriff Jerry Harbstreit. "There will be an autopsy on Thursday morning and we should get a cause then."
Harbstreit, who knew the victim and his family, says police are still sorting out the details.
"Because Mr. Woodruff apparently had not had many problems with other people or been involved in anything suspicious, that makes the investigation a little more difficult," he says. "We are working hard on this, but there is still a lot more to do."
Baldwin County Alabama police say officers received call from Daviess County officials looking for a black Ford F-150 with an Indiana license plate and a fire department sticker in the rear window.
Daviess County Sheriff Jerry Harbstreit says police were looking for the driver, Jeffrey Dyer, who was a person of interest in Woodruff's murder. Dyer is also a volunteer firefighter.
Within minutes of receiving information about the truck Wednesday morning, Baldwin county deputies spotted the truck near Loxley, Alabama on Interstate 10 and followed it. Sheriff's deputies and state troopers were at exit 38 past Loxley waiting to give chase.
Police say they approached the truck on the interstate from both the rear and the front of the truck. Once they turned on their police lights, the driver pulled over quickly, but what happened next was unexpected.
Deputies ordered the driver, who they believed was Dyer, out of the truck and the driver of the truck fatally shot himself with a high-powered rifle while sitting inside the vehicle.
Police say the driver never exceeded 65 miles per hour and the driver did not break any traffic rules.
"Thought we believe the driver was Mr. Dyer, we have not been able to confirm that," says Sheriff Harbstreit. "We are waiting for the results of an autopsy report, until then our investigation will continue."
The incident caused one lane of traffic to close temporarily, causing a traffic backup along I-10 westbound.
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