‘Dangerous’ 70-year-old sought in slaying of two duck hunters, Tennessee officials say
A 70-year-old man wanted for the murders of two duck hunters on a lake in Tennessee is still at large, according to state investigators.
Law enforcement is looking for David Vowell in connection with the deaths of 26-year-old Chance Black and 25-year-old Zachery Grooms on Monday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said. Warrants for his arrest on two counts of first-degree murder were issued Tuesday.
Vowell is from Martin in western Tennessee near the Kentucky border. State investigators said he does not have a criminal record in Tennessee, but he is believed to be “armed and dangerous.”
Investigators did not release any additional information regarding the alleged murders, and District Attorney Tommy A. Thomas for Obion and Weakley counties did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment Wednesday.
BREAKING: TBI Special Agents are asking for help in locating a person of interest in a homicide investigation in Obion County. David Vowell, 70, of Martin is considered armed and dangerous.
If you have seen him or know where he may be located call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
(1/3) pic.twitter.com/xB1w6ersSR— Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (@TBInvestigation) January 26, 2021
Black and Grooms, who are from Weakley County, were killed near the north end of Reelfoot Lake in neighboring Obion County, officials said. The pair were duck hunting when they were shot in a blind, WREG reported.
Reelfoot Lake sits a few miles east of the Mississippi River and is a popular spot for fishing and boating, according to Tennessee State Parks. Duck hunting season opened Dec. 5 and finishes at the end of January.
Black was a manager in the gun department of a hunting store in Union City called Final Flight Outfitters, the store said in a statement Monday on Facebook.
“What has taken place today is hard to process,” the statement reads. “No duck is worth the life of a man. What we do know is that God is our refuge and strength, even in the hardest of times.”
A third hunter was reportedly with Black and Grooms in the blind and witnessed the shooting, the district attorney’s office told WREG on Tuesday.
WPSD reported investigators also found Vowell’s boat on Tuesday. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as well as the Obion County Sheriff’s Office, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Tennessee Highway Patrol and U.S. Marshals Service continue to search for him.
Anyone with information about Vowell’s whereabouts is asked to call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
