The McCoys found the I-75 shooter’s body. Why wouldn’t they get full $35,000 reward?

Fred and Sheila McCoy, the Kentucky couple who livestreamed on YouTube their discovery of the body of the Interstate 75 shooter, should be eligible for the full $35,000 reward — if all of that money is available, officials said Thursday.

Wednesday, the McCoys led Kentucky State Police to the body of 32-year-old Joseph Couch near Exit 49 off the interstate, about 9 miles north of London. Couch was accused of shooting five people as they drove on I-75 nearly two weeks ago, setting off a massive search and canceling public activities for many in the area. No one was killed in the shootings.

Police Wednesday said the McCoys would receive $25,000 of the $35,000 reward that was offered for information leading to Couch’s arrest.

But police aren’t trying to short the couple.

For one thing, the Kentucky State Police had nothing to do with the reward other than publicizing it in hopes of collecting information, police spokeswoman Sherry Bray said Thursday.

The reward was collected by the mayor’s office in London (two anonymous donations of $10,000 each) and the nonprofit Cumberland Valley Crime Stoppers ($5,000 in Crime Stoppers’ money, $10,000 from the United Way of London/Laurel County).

The only reason the reward conceivably might end up $10,000 short is one of the anonymous donors has not yet confirmed that pledge, while the other one has, the London mayor’s office said Thursday.

Crime Stoppers coordinator Jimmy Phelps said he left a message for the McCoys on Thursday and awaited their call.

As of Thursday afternoon, the McCoys had not responded to the Herald-Leader’s efforts to reach them for comment.

Wednesday, the couple live-streamed their search for Couch in the heavily wooded and rugged terrain near Exit 49, reportedly following circling vultures overhead and their own noses. The couple’s stream showed police were also searching the area, though the McCoy’s were the first to discover Couch’s body in a hollow.

In a follow-up stream posted on the couple’s YouTube account, the two can be heard reacting to the discovery in disbelief as they make their way out of the woods.

“ Yes, we did find him,” Sheila McCoy told viewers toward the end of the stream.

“We’re the bounty hunters,” Fred McCoy said, joking. “My wife, her and her nose, found him.”

The couple may receive their reward in a public setting, Crime Stoppers said Thursday.

“They’re gonna be setting up something next week, I think, to present them with the check,” Phelps said.

Ordinarily, Crime Stoppers offers smaller rewards — $500 to $1,000 — for the capture of living suspects who can face criminal charges. But this wasn’t an ordinary situation, Phelps said.

“This has never happened to us before, where some people go out and find the body, where the person they’re looking for is deceased,” Phelps said. “So there’s been some controversy on the money part of it, on whether you pay it or don’t pay it. But we’re gonna pay it.”

The award amount may be subject to taxation. The Herald-Leader has reached out to the Kentucky Department of Revenue to confirm, but did not immediately hear back Thursday.

Reporter Aaron Mudd contributed to this story.

Couple behind Hatfield & McCoy museum finds body of man who shot at cars on I-75

Body of Joseph Couch, who shot drivers on I-75 in Kentucky, found in nearby woods