Sheriff’s Office, Highway Patrol, State Fire Marshal investigating

By Kyle Troutman ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com

The Barry County Sheriff’s Office has identified the identity of a body recently found in the trunk of a burned vehicle that had been towed from Farm Road 1170, between Jenkins and Aurora.

According to a press release from Barry County Sheriff Danny Boyd, DNA testing has identified the victim as Marvin Lance McCullough, 55, of Aurora.

Boyd said on March 20, at approximately 3 p.m., the Sheriff’s Office was notified of the body in the vehicle stored at Schrader’s Towing in Shell Knob.

The vehicle was registered to McCullough’s mother and had been towed from the Farm Road 1170 location after it had been set on fire.

McCullough’s mother reported he had been in possession of the vehicle, but she had not seen him in several days.

The Sheriff’s Office, Missouri State Highway Patrol and Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office are currently investigating the incident.

Mike O’Connell, communications director for the Missouri Department of Public Safety (DFS), which oversees the Fire Marshal’s Office, declined comment on incident specifics, saying the DFS is assisting in a criminal investigation.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 417-847-6556.