What Ever Happened to the Investigation of the Death of Gunnar McNeill?

It’s been almost exactly 10 months since the body of Gunnar McNeill was found on the side of a cold highway two days before Christmas last year.

At just after 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 23, 2014, San Angelo Police officers and a handful of Grape Creek volunteer firemen stood in the frigid air under a steady drizzle, guarding a body cloaked in a white sheet behind a stretch of crime scene tape. The scene played out just south of the Knights of Columbus hall at US 87 N. and Humble Road, where access to the frontage road had been shut down and a police Tahoe was parked across both lanes, lights flashing.

Less than four hours later, detectives with the PD’s Special Operations Section located the suspect vehicle in the 10000 block of Raccoon Road in Grape Creek, which was towed and secured as possible evidence in the investigation. After McNeill’s name was released as the victim that evening his case fell silent; not a word about its status has been breathed in nearly a year, but that doesn’t mean that the 20-year-old man has been forgotten.

“We’re still waiting on the forensic analysis from Lubbock,” said Criminal Investigations Sergeant Doug Thomas on Oct. 21. “We have a bunch of evidence, but we’re still waiting on the results.”

Sgt. Thomas, who is leading the criminal investigation, said that evidence was gathered from the body, crime scene and car, and then was sent to the Department of Public Safety lab for analysis. The processing of the car took place locally, he said, and was thoroughly combed over in search of hair, DNA, and other evidence, such as paint and glass transfer that occurs at impact. The windshield of the vehicle was sent to the crime lab as well.

Because of the circumstances of McNeill’s death, a parallel hit-and-run investigation is ongoing, which was being led by the late Sgt. Korby Kennedy. Since Sgt. Kennedy’s death in late June, Sgt. Todd Dornhecker has taken over as the supervisor of the police department’s Traffic Division; however, he just transferred into that position last week and is still catching up on the pending cases. Dornhecker was previously the supervisor of the Special Operations Section, and when McNeill was found, he led the team that located the vehicle and the woman suspected of driving it.

“We took a suspect into custody for questioning,” Sgt. Thomas said. That woman has not been identified nor was she ever arrested; however, she remains the only suspect in the case. “We’re not going to move forward and file charges until we get the results [of the forensic analysis on the evidence] back.”

Sgt. Thomas said that some of the evidence has been returned inconclusive, but the majority is still being processed at the lab. At this juncture, Thomas said, he cannot begin to speculate as to what the charges may be, since he has not been able to evaluate the evidence.

“We will work with the District Attorney’s Office on that,” Thomas said. “We’re in a holding pattern until we get those results in.”