WASHINGTON COUNTY, Mo. (News First) – Cody Lee Hunt of Sullivan has been in and out of prison several times the last few years. The 34-year-old has a long list of felonies and arrests, even a poaching conviction, but now he’s a ‘person of interest’ concerning the death of another.
According to Missouri Casenet, Hunt has been convicted of possessing illegal drugs, attempting to steal a motor vehicle, resisting or interfering with a felony arrest and tampering with a motor vehicle in the first degree. He’s currently facing a trespassing charge, operating a vehicle without maintaining financial responsibility, possessing a controlled substance, and failing to obey a lawful order. He was just recently released from prison again, and now he could be in more trouble after being arrested in Washington County Wednesday morning.
About 12 hours before Hunt’s arrest on Tuesday night, Washington County deputies were called to a forested area south of Potosi for what they thought was a brush fire. It turns out it was a Jeep Cherokee that had been set on fire, and it had human remains inside. As that day started just after midnight, Sullivan police were called to check on 63-year-old Dale W. Ryerson at his home. When they arrived, Sullivan police say they found the front door was not secured, Ryerson was not inside, and that it looked like there had been a struggle and possibly an assault. Ryerson’s neighbor had called the police and told them he heard a disturbance at Ryerson’s and later witnessed someone either drag or carry Ryerson to his Jeep Cherokee. The unidentified man then placed Ryerson in the passenger seat and drove away, said the witness.
After hearing this, that’s when Sullivan police called all neighboring police departments to be on the lookout for Ryerson’s Jeep Cherokee. At the same time, the police named Hunt as a person of interest in this case. They also said citizens should avoid Hunt because he was considered armed and dangerous.
No details have been released on why Hunt became a person of interest. When or if charges are filed on the currently unidentified human remains, there is a possibility a first-degree murder charge could be levied, plus several other felonies.
Hunt was first taken to the Washington County Jail but later transferred to the Sullivan Police Department’s jail. As of right now, no charges have been filed against Hunt or anyone else. By the way, that burnt-out Jeep Cherokee with the human remains inside did belong to Ryerson.
