Deputies launch homicide investigation in Kittitas County

ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- A homicide investigation was launched in central Washington state after a 20-year-old man was found dead along a rural road, deputies said.

Kittitas County sheriff’s deputies found Louisiana resident Leroy Scott on Saturday around 12:40 p.m. along Smithson Road, about 45 miles north of Yakima, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported.

The sheriff’s department and other authorities responded to reports from local residents that there was a body in a creek, and secured the scene, authorities said.

County Sheriff Clay Myers confirmed an autopsy was scheduled for Scott.

Scott had a connection to the state through Fort Lewis, but was not employed by the military when he died, deputies said.

No further information was released.