Body found behind Q-94
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, April 24, 2002
A Greenville police officer found the body of a missing Greenville man Monday morning.
According to Greenville Police Chief Lonzo Ingram, the body was located near the back door of radio station Q-94 in downtown Greenville.
According to Ingram, the body was located on Monday at 8:58 a.m. by Sgt. Danny Bond after a missing persons report was filed Sunday night. Ingram said the victim, Michael James Hoke, 33, of Greenville, was last seen at around 11 p.m. Friday night at the Front Street Pub.
Ingram said the case is a death investigation and is being handled by the Greenville Police Department, the Butler County District Attorney's Office and the Alabama Department of Forensics. He said the cause of death will be determined by an autopsy and Greenville officials were waiting to hear from the Department of Forensics yesterday.
"We are awaiting results from an autopsy," Ingram said. "But at this point, this is a death investigation."
Ingram said that, due to high grass, the body was not visible from the street. He would not release any information regarding the condition or position of the body when it was found. Bond found the body early Monday morning and investigators were immediately called to the scene.
Front Street Pub bartenders gave statements to police Monday regarding Hoke's presence at the establishment Friday night and circumstances surrounding his disappearance.
Ingram would not release details of what the victim was wearing when he was found.
Front Street Pub owner Eric Fennell said he does not remember anything suspicious about Friday night and that it was a fairly quiet night at the business.
"I was deejaying that night so I don't really remember anything," he said. "Everybody was gone to Talladega, so it was fairly quiet."
Ingram said that autopsy results should be released today.