KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar BluffCarter County Homicide Investigation

Carter County Homicide Investigation

Carter County Homicide Investigation
By: CJ Cassidy

Carter County, MO - Another gruesome killing in our region.A family member finds 43-year-old Jimmy Freeze's body lying against a barbed wire fence, in Carter County.

A witness who helped family members search for freeze called emergency responders to the scene.

The victim's friends tell Heartland News Freeze lived alone at a house adjoining a church along Old Highway 60 in Carter County.

Autopsy results show Jimmy Freeze died from massive blood loss. The Carter County Coroner tells me the death was particularly horrifying because the blood loss took place over several hours.

Investigators say they don't have any suspects, and haven't made any arrests because they're still trying to piece together all the evidence they found at the scene of the crime.

"There were no signs of struggles but some suspicious things that occurred with this. I can't comment on we'd want to investigate further," Trooper Craig Ponder with the Missouri Highway Patrol says.

Police spent all day searching Freeze's home and surrounding property, to try and track down his killer.

Freeze's mother works for the Carter County Sheriff's Department. Investigators point to that fact and more resources on hand as an explanation for the Missouri Highway Patrol taking over the case.

Freeze worked at Foster's Service Station in Van Buren and coworkers were the first to notice his absence.

"He didn't show up yesterday for work we were kind of worried about it, but we thought he's 43 years old responsible you know we thought maybe he's got another appointment," Lance Uhlry of Van Buren says.

Eventually though, Freeze's employer alerted family members who came looking for him at his house.

Witnesses tell me the first sign they knew something was wrong, was when they saw blood on the walls of the church; someone then came around to the back and saw Freeze lying at the bottom of the drop off.

"I couldn't believe it I work with him everyday just don't ever think stuff like that gonna happen to someone you know," Uhlry says.

But something terrible did happen, that ended with Freeze's brutal death; and as folks in Carter County come to terms with the grim reality, they hope for justice.

"If someone murdered him, whatever they find out. I hope whoever did this gets what they deserve," Uhlry says.

If you noticed anything suspicious, call the Carter County Sheriff's Department immediately.That number is 573-323-4510.