Authorities located the body of a man this morning, Feb. 15, in a Festus hotel room after tracking him in connection with the discovery of a woman’s dead body in Fenton on Saturday.
The man is suspected of fatally shooting himself, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Grant Bissell said authorities negotiated with the man overnight at the Holiday Inn Express, 1802 Gamel Cemetery Road, before locating his body about 8 a.m. through the use of electronics.
“They used a robot and a drone to determine he was deceased,” Bissell said.
The names of the deceased man and woman have not yet been released, he said.
He said detectives, SWAT and negotiators were at the hotel overnight attempting to take the man, thought to be in his late 60s, into custody.
“They tracked him to the Festus hotel about 9 p.m. (Feb. 14),” he said. “They evacuated the hotel. Detectives and negotiators made contact with him, but the negotiations (did not succeed).”
A gunshot was heard about 7 a.m., the Sheriff’s Office reported.
Bissell said autopsies on the two deceased need to be completed before official causes of death are made public.
He said it was learned the man “had done time for murder” prior to the incident.
Guests at the hotel were transported by bus overnight to a Festus R-6 school while negotiations took place with the man, Bissell said. They were bused back to the hotel sometime after 8 a.m. today, he said.
He said law enforcement had received a call about 5 p.m. Feb.14 about a woman’s body being found in a home in the 2600 block of Winding Bluffs in the Jefferson County part of Fenton.
“It started as a call on a death,” Bissell said. “It became evident it was a murder. The suspect was tracked to the Holiday Inn in Festus.”
No law enforcement personnel were injured during the incident, he said.
He said the investigation is ongoing.