LADDONIA— The death of a man found in a tractor-trailer in eastern Missouri has been ruled a homicide.
The Audrain County Sheriff's Department said Monday that the determination was made after an autopsy on Saturday. The news release from the department also says the victim has been identified as 20-year-old James William Boyd McNeely of Ohio. No details were provided about where in Ohio the man was from.
A 38-year-old truck driver, Chester Harvey Jr. of Laddonia, and his 19-year-old son, Chad Michael Harvey of Eolia, have been charged with abandonment of a corpse. Chester Harvey also faces one count of kidnapping after a daylong hostage standoff Wednesday involving his wife and several children.
Court records say Chester Harvey told a tipster he killed a man he had picked up in California.