The Nebraska State Patrol says the body of a missing person from Wisconsin was found in the backseat of a car that was involved in an early morning pursuit and crash 0n I-80 between Lincoln and Milford.
State Patrol Colonel Bryan Waugh says dispatchers received information about a vehicle believed to traveling through eastern Nebraska that was connected to an endangered missing persons case in Dodgeville, Wisconsin.
“About 25 minutes after dispatchers received the initial information, a trooper located the vehicle on Interstate 80 in Lincoln and quickly observed it was not the missing person who was driving.” Waugh says the trooper tried to stop the vehicle at the NW 48th Street exit, but the driver took off as heavy rain was falling and eventually began driving east in the westbound lanes.
He says the driver went through a construction zone but couldn’t negotiate the lane shift and crashed into the median and came to rest in a creek. The suspect then fled on foot. That’s when troopers discovered the body of the woman in the back seat and Waugh says it was clear she was dead before the crash.
After the body was discovered, Waugh says they brought in backup from several agencies and, including Lincoln Police and the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office. A four hour manhunt followed using drones and armored vehicles along with a helicopter.
At around 6:15 a Lancaster County Sheriff’s sergeant spotted the man walking down Highway 6 about four miles from the crash scene. Waugh says 23-year-old Gavin Thompson of Dodgeville was taken into custody without incident.
Waugh says they are working with Dodgeville Police on the investigation. Thompson is currently being held in the Lancaster County Jail and is facing several local charges, including flight to avoid arrest and willful reckless driving. Waugh says says more charges are likely as the investigation continues.
(Photo: Lancaster County Jail)