Headless, Handless Body Was Killed by an Arrow
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iStock/Thinkstock(CRAWFORD COUNTY, Pa.) — A dismembered body that was found stuffed inside a barrel may be that of a missing Pennsylvania man, police said, however they are awaiting DNA tests to confirm the identity.
The body, which was missing its head and hands, is believed to be that of Gerald VanDyke, 55, who has been missing since Sept. 14.
The gruesome discovery was made Friday when authorities found human remains stuffed inside a steel drum in Crawford County.
State police told the Erie-Times News that an autopsy determined the victim had been shot with a hunting arrow, which punctured his aorta.
The remains were recovered one day after police arrested Richard Huoy, 68, in connection with the murder of VanDyke.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Houy told police he asked VanDyke, who was his daughter’s long-time boyfriend, to come to his home because he needed help working on a tractor.
Houy began arguing with VanDyke about the relationship with his daughter and then punched VanDyke “in the left side of his face, causing the victim to fall and strike his head on a piece of machinery,” the affidavit said.
He then loaded VanDyke into the back of his truck, according to the affidavit, and drove to a creek, where he told police he left the body.
Authorities have not said whether VanDyke’s truck had been found.
The hands and head missing from the corpse may be buried within holes that were dug to secure new fence posts on Houy’s property, the affidavit said.
Houy faces charges of criminal homicide, criminal use of a communication facility, tampering with or fabricating evidence and false reports to law enforcement. He is being held without bond in Crawford County Jail and has not yet entered a plea.
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