70-year-old duck hunter who allegedly murdered 2 men found dead in swamp

ByMark Osborne ABCNews logo
Sunday, January 31, 2021
Tennessee duck hunter wanted for lake murders
A Tennessee man is wanted for allegedly killing two fellow duck hunters.

REELFOOT LAKE, Tenn. -- David Vowell, the 70-year-old man accused of killing two fellow duck hunters in rural Tennessee earlier this week, was found dead on Saturday.

Vowell was found dead in Reelfoot Lake, not far from where the two men were fatally shot on Monday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said.

Chance Black, 26, and Zachery Grooms, 25, were at Reelfoot Lake in northwest Tennessee on Monday morning when Vowell approached them and got into a verbal altercation, District Attorney Tommy Thomas told ABC News. Vowell allegedly opened fire and killed both Black and Grooms.

Thomas said earlier this week that it was unknown whether Vowell knew the two victims.

Vowell's body was found around 3 p.m. local time on Saturday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said. Authorities said he was positively identified, but an autopsy would be conducted. A cause of death was not announced.

Vowell had fled the shooting scene on foot as his boat was recovered and the car he drove to the boat ramp was also seized, Thomas said Wednesday.

He had been wanted on two counts of first-degree murder. He was considered armed and dangerous, authorities said.

The search was conducted in a large, extremely rural area -- Reelfoot Lake State Park -- near the Missouri and Kentucky borders. Reelfoot Lake itself is 15,000 acres and is surrounded by thick, murky swampland filled with cypress trees.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation posted footage of them searching the area on Friday, showing the adverse conditions they were dealing with.

ABC News' Emily Shapiro and Matt Foster contributed to this report.

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