CNN
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When a gunman crouched on a ledge on Kentucky’s Interstate 75 opened fire on a dozen cars, injuring five people, it sparked widespread fear in surrounding communities – and drove a couple into the woods to join the days-long hunt for the perpetrator.

For 11 days, officials combed the vast, rugged wilderness of the Daniel Boone National Forest in search of 32-year-old suspect Joseph Couch, who authorities said texted a woman before the shooting saying he planned to “kill a lot of people” and then “kill himself afterward.”

Five days after the fruitless manhunt began, Fred and Sheila McCoy set out to search for Couch in the dense wilderness, hoping to win a share of the reward offered for information on him and to help restore safety to the community that was in turmoil after the shooting. According to Kentucky State Police, a $35,000 reward was being offered for information leading to Couch’s capture.

“You have to understand, this guy has stressed the community,” Fred McCoy told CNN. “Anyone sitting on a hill shooting at cars is dangerous.”

As Couch evaded capture day after day, schools were closed, authorities asked nearby residents to avoid the wilderness, stores were forced to close their doors to customers, and thousands of tips came in from several states.

While community members donated blood to help the five hospitalized victims, law enforcement combed the vast forest, which covers an area larger than Los Angeles and New York City combined. Despite battling through treacherous terrain, including sinkholes, caves and thick undergrowth that they had to cut through with machetes, authorities still couldn’t find Couch.

The search ended on Wednesday.

In a 30-minute livestream on their YouTube channel, the McCoys told viewers that they noticed a group of vultures hovering around an area. As they approached the group of vultures, a strong, foul odor emanated from the same area, they said.

“My wife smelled something strong and even I could smell it even though I had the flu. It was bad,” said Fred McCoy.

After a six-day search, the McCoys came across a decomposing corpse.

The livestream ended abruptly, then the couple went live again after being discovered.

“You won’t believe this,” Sheila McCoy can be heard saying in the livestream. “Oh my goodness.”

Like the McCoys, two police officers were lured to the area by circling vultures and the smell of decomposition, Kentucky State Police Chief Phillip Burnett Jr. said Wednesday. The four encountered each other in the woods and almost immediately “stumbled upon the body,” he said.

Kentucky State Police subsequently announced that the body, believed to be Couch, was found Wednesday afternoon by two police officers and the McCoys in dense brush near Interstate 75 northwest of London, Kentucky. However, they were unable to positively identify it as Couch.

“We are very confident that the search for Joseph Couch is now complete,” Burnett said. “The people of Laurel County can rest easy… and that is much easier now that they know that this manhunt is over.”

Burnett said police believe the body is Couch’s because items found on the body are linked to him. The body will be transported to Frankfort, the state capital, on Thursday for positive identification, the commissioner said at a news conference.

The body was found near Exit 49 on I-75 in Laurel County, about 10 miles northwest of London and not far from the crime scene, state police said Wednesday. Authorities previously said they found a vehicle registered to Couch on a logging road near Exit 49 with an empty gun case inside.

The cause of death will be determined by an autopsy, Burnett said. A weapon was found where the body lay, he said.

Investigators have not yet released a motive for the shooting, but said the investigation is ongoing.

“I really wish we could have found Couch alive. We could have asked him what his intentions were,” Laurel County Sheriff John Root said at a news conference Wednesday. “We could have brought him to justice … I would have preferred him to be alive and pay for what he did.”

During the search, voices in the area led police to the civilian couple who were also independently searching for Couch, Burnett said.

Burnett did not address authorities’ earlier warning to stay away from the area.

Root praised the couple.

“Congratulations. We are proud,” he said of the couple. “Our only goal was to save this guy.”

Burnett said the couple will receive a $15,000 reward from Laurel County Crime Stoppers and a $10,000 reward from a private donor.

“Now everyone can rest easy,” Fred McCoy said in a phone call with CNN, as viewers could be heard congratulating and thanking the couple.

Before the shooting began, Couch texted a woman: “I’m going to kill a lot of people. So, I should at least try,” according to an arrest warrant against him.

Later, less than half an hour before the shooting, Couch sent another message, according to the arrest warrant: “I’m going to kill myself after this.”

That day, Couch had purchased an AR-15 with sights and 1,000 rounds of ammunition for a total of nearly $3,000, the warrant states. According to the sheriff’s office, Couch made the purchases legally.

On Sept. 7, around 5:30 p.m., Couch perched on a ledge at the side of a highway and used an AR-15 to attack 12 cars in Laurel County, about 9 miles north of London, authorities said.

Bullets rained down on I-75, piercing cars, hitting five travelers and causing confusion for others who heard the sound but didn’t immediately know what it was. Some of the injuries were serious, with one victim shot in the face and another in the chest, authorities said. The shooting prompted authorities to close the highway for hours.

Although police were unable to immediately locate the shooter in the vast, dense wooded area near the highway, within less than a day they named a suspect – Couch, of Kentucky – after finding his car a short distance away, near the service road at Exit 49, and the AR-15 they believe he was using.

Investigators soon received information they believe further linked him to the shooting, including the text messages. According to the warrant, the woman called 911 after receiving the text messages and later showed police screenshots of the conversation.

The arrest warrant charges him with five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault, Jackie Steele, district attorney for Laurel and Knox counties, told CNN.

Police said they hoped constant pressure and an intensive manhunt involving drones, helicopters, dogs and dozens of police officers would lead to the arrest of the suspect.

The shooting and manhunt sent communities in the area into turmoil, and authorities urged residents to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings.

More than a dozen local school districts and several private schools canceled at least one day of school last week, Sheriff Root said. And some businesses have also taken precautions, such as “only allowing outdoor drive-ins and locking the doors,” Root said.

“There were school closings and church closings. People were scared, this is not normal here in Laurel County,” Root said. “Now that this has been discovered, I hope our county can get back to normal.”

The I-75 shooting was at least the second shooting on a highway in a week. In Washington state, five people were injured by gunfire and another person was hit by flying glass after a series of shootings along I-5 in the Seattle and Tacoma areas.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been at least 397 mass shootings so far this year. Mass shootings are defined as those in which four or more victims are shot. That’s an average of more than 1.5 mass shootings per day.