The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

Phillips County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a body with a gun in an abandoned building earlier this week, according to Sheriff Thom Elliott.

Deputies discovered a mummified, unidentified deceased white male at an abandoned farmstead near Phillips County roads 57 and 40, near Amherst, on June 13. A release from Sheriff Elliott says it appears that the victim died from a gunshot wound to the head. The body, he said, had no identification and there was no vehicle found at the location.

Elliott said a canvass of surrounding counties has been conducted, which resulted in no missing persons. The Colorado Bureau of Investigations has contacted for crime scene assistance and the investigation is ongoing until the person is identified, family members are contacted and reasons for the fatality are determined.

A forensic autopsy has been performed and results are pending.

Phillips County Sheriff Elliott asks anyone with any information to contact Undersheriff Mike Beard at the Sheriff’s Office at (970) 854-3644.