SEAGOVILLE, Texas — A body discovered in the East Fork Trinity River bottoms has presumptively been identified as a suspect named by police wanted in connection with a Seagoville shooting.
SEAGOVILLE, Texas — A body discovered in the East Fork Trinity River bottoms has presumptively been identified as a suspect named by police wanted in connection with a Seagoville shooting.
At approximately 10:30 a.m., on June 25, 2023, the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office took custody of the body, presumptively identified as 21-year-old Preston Steele Smith.
The body was located in a heavily-wooded area approximately one mile south of Interstate 20, close to mile marker 485.
"Due to challenging logistics, successful recovery of the body in the state of decomposition took place roughly nine hours after the body was discovered by family members," read a statement, in part, from the Seagoville Police Department.
"By all appearances, the adult male died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and was found with a loaded 9 mm pistol," stated police.
Smith was first reported missing from the Austin, Texas, area on June 19, 2023, after not reaching his destination. Family members noted Smith was acting out of character, though a motive for the apparent suicide remains unclear.
The same night of his disappearance, Smith was allegedly involved in a shooting incident in the Seagoville area. Smith absconded from the area of the shooting in a white Subaru SUV which was ultimately recovered abandoned, on June 22, 2023, hundreds of yards from where the adult male body was discovered in the woods.
The shooting incident had occurred in the 1300 block of Alto Road. The victim in the original shooting offense was not struck by the gunfire and was uninjured.
The investigation is pending the results of the Dallas County Medical Examiner's findings.