COLUMBIA (AP) - A Central Missouri road crew worker made a grisly discovery Saturday when he found a dead body near the entrance of a now-closed trailer park, and deputies found a second body about 150 yards away.
The Boone County Sheriff's Department identified the victims as James W. Richardson, 41, of Columbia, and Kenneth B. Long, 42, of Mexico, Missouri.
The deaths are being treated as a double-homicide, but sheriff's spokesman Tom O'Sullivan declined to say how the men were killed.
"We have a pretty good idea of it, but we're not releasing that yet," he said.
Richardson's body was found near the entrance of the now-closed El Ray Mobile Home Park on the outskirts of Columbia at 8:45 a.m. Saturday. The road worker called 911.
A K-9 unit brought to the scene led deputies to Long's body in a field that previously housed the mobile home park, which closed about five years ago. An office building and one trailer remain on the property, which is overgrown with weeds and grass.
The first victim was in his early 40s, O'Sullivan said, and the second appears to be in his mid-to-late 30s. The men appear to have been killed where they were found, he said. A car belonging to one of the victims was the only vehicle at the scene.
Officials were "reasonably certain" the men were found within several hours of their deaths, O'Sullivan said.
A woman who lives two blocks from where the trailer park once stood said the area is usually quiet. Coradine Demien said she hasn't had any issues in the neighborhood since moving in about six years ago.
The deaths also came as a surprise to Harold and Pat Bossaller, who have lived in their home near the scene for 42 years and haven't experienced any noteworthy problems.