Who are Fred and Sheila McCoy? What to know about KY couple who helped find body in Laurel County

Kentucky State Police officials announced they believe the body found Wednesday near Exit 49 in Laurel County is Joseph Couch, the man who police suspect fired at cars traveling on Interstate 75 near London, Kentucky nearly two weeks ago.

Authorities have been looking for Couch since Sept. 7 following a shooting that left five people wounded and 12 cars pierced with bullet holes. They located the body nearly 12 days later after searching thousands of acres of rugged and wooded terrain in the Daniel Boone National Forest, where authorities believed Couch was hiding, with assistance from a Kentucky couple.

Here's what we know.

Laurel County shooting: Did Kentucky authorities locate Joseph Couch? What we know about London Interstate shooting

Did Kentucky authorities locate London shooting suspect Joseph Couch?

Kentucky State Police located a body who they believe to be Joseph Couch on Wednesday with the help of Fred and Sheila McCoy, a local couple who'd been searching in the forested area behind Exit 49 when they crossed paths with a group of Kentucky State Police troopers, Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. said.

The troopers had detected a pungent odor, and shortly after, the group stumbled upon the body. Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. said the McCoys will receive the $25,000 reward for locating Couch after conducting a multi-day search of their own.

Who are Fred and Sheila McCoy?

According to their YouTube channel, Hatfield McCoy Museum Adventures, the couple has been married for around 40 years and have two children. Fred joined the Marines after high school at 17 years old and served three years in the Corps before working in law enforcement for over 40 years, some of it as police chief. Sheila formerly worked as a kindergarten teaching assistant and was a historian for the Hatfield & McCoy Museum.

The museum's website states that Fred is related to both the Hatfield and McCoy families, known for a long-standing feud on the edge of Kentucky and West Virginia.

What is the Hatfield and McCoy feud?

According to the Hatfield and McCoy Foundation, the feud began in the 1860s between the two groups, led by William Anderson Hatfield, known as “Devil Anse," and Randolph “Old Ranel” McCoy, who both lived along the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River, near the boundary of Kentucky and West Virginia.

The battle between the families began in 1865 with the murder of Randolph’s brother, Asa Harmon McCoy, by the Logan Wildcats, a local militia group that had Hatfields among its members. In 1875, Randolph accused Floyd Hatfield, a cousin of William, of stealing one of his pigs. The trial took place in McCoy territory where witness Bill Staton, a McCoy relative married to a Hatfield, testified in Floyd's favor.

Two years later, Staton was murdered by Sam and Paris McCoy, nephews of Randolph. Sam stood trial for the murder but was found to have acted in self-defense and was acquitted, according to the Foundation.

In 1882, on a local election day, three of Randolph's sons ended up in a violent dispute with two brothers of William. A McCoy brother stabbed Ellison Hatfield multiple times and then shot him in the back. After hearing of the news, the Hatfields killed all three brothers.

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A group of the Hatfields later planned to attack Randolph and his family in an ambush on the home on New Year’s Day in 1888. Randolph fled, escaping into the woods, but his son Calvin and daughter Alifair were killed, and his wife Sarah was left badly beaten with a crushed skull.

A few days later, bounty hunter Frank Phillips chased down Jim Vance and Cap Hatfield, killing Vance. Phillips rounded up nine Hatfield family members and supporters and hauled them off to jail. Years of legal permutations unfolded as a series of courts judged the legal merits of the Hatfield case. Eventually, the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which stated the Hatfields being held in custody could be tried.

The trial began in 1889, and eight of the Hatfields and their supporters were sentenced to life in prison. Ellison Mounts, who was believed to be the son of Ellison Hatfield, was sentenced to death. Nicknamed “Cottontop,” he was known to be mentally challenged, and many viewed him as a scapegoat even though he had confessed his guilt.

Although public executions were against the law in Kentucky, thousands of spectators gathered to witness the hanging of Ellison Mounts on February 18, 1890. Reports claim that his last words were: “They made me do it! The Hatfields made me do it!”

The families most recently signed a truce in 2003 after disputes over property in 2000, during a televised ceremony, according to the Census.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Joseph Couch: What we know about KY couple who found suspected body