The Callaway County Sheriff's Office is investigating the suspicious death of Adam E. Keith, 20, of Auxvasse.
Sheriff Dennis Crane said Keith's body was found alongside of County Road 132 east of Fulton early Friday morning. He said the cause of death is unknown and an autopsy is being conducted by the Boone/Callaway County medical examiner at University Hospital in Columbia.
"We're not going to know anything (from the medical examiner) for a while," Crane said Saturday afternoon.
A press release from the sheriff's office stated that three subjects claim to have been with Keith as they were traveling on County Road 132 when he jumped out of a vehicle.
"We know the people that were all together, and we know what they say happened, and they all say close to the same thing," Crane said. "They said he had been talking crazy. He kept trying to get out and they were trying to hold him in.
"Now it becomes a moral issue: If somebody jumps out, why didn't you call. Of course, they were scared, but that doesn't make it right."
He said Keith and the other three occupants of the vehicle had attended the funeral of the mother of one of the passengers on Thursday.
Crane said that based on what statements from witnesses and others, alcohol and/or drugs may have been involved in the incident, but would not say whether Keith was under the influence of either substance.
"I'm going to leave that as a maybe until we get positive test results," Crane said.
The investigation is ongoing.
~~
(Editor's note: Reporter Katherine Cummins also contributed to this story.)