Texas law enforcement authorities notified Special Agents of the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division shortly after 6 PM tonight that Lavern Blackmon of Conway (Arkansas) is dead. Preliminarily authorities in Conroe, Texas believe Blackmon died from a self-inflected gunshot wound.
Conroe is approximately 40 miles north of Houston.
Police officers in Conroe found Blackmon in the 2008 Chevrolet Avalanche truck he apparently drove from Little Rock when he was last seen in Arkansas earlier this week.
*Editors please refer to the news release distributed earlier this afternoon for background information relating to the kidnapping and murder Blackmon was accused of committing near Dumas before returning to the Little Rock area.