Virginia State Police investigating homicide after truck crash in Clarke County

CLARKE COUNTY, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - Investigators say they discovered the body of a man inside a pickup truck in Clarke County near the Shenandoah River at the Loudoun County line Sunday. Now, they are hoping someone comes forward with information about what happened while they search for the person responsible for the man's death.

Virginia State Police investigators said Monday they now believe this incident started in a nearby gravel parking lot off Castleman Road where some sort of fight broke out between two men who were conducting a business transaction and shots were fired. They say after the alleged altercation the victim tried to drive down Route 7 to get away, but ended up crashing and dying.

Police say it was around 11:15 Sunday morning when they responded to the area of Rt. 7 and Castleman Rd. following reports of a crash. Once they arrived at the scene, they say they discovered a man, who was later identified as Jeffrey B. Evans, 72, of Bluemont, dead inside the truck with injuries that were not from a car crash but from something else -- possibly a shooting.

Witnesses told police they saw what looked like a white man running away from the scene after the shooting.

Evans remains were transported to the Office of Medical Examiner in Manassas for examination and autopsy, police say.

People who live in the area tell FOX 5 that the parking lot is sometimes used for people commuting into the D.C. area.

We spoke to someone who saw the truck after it crashed, and she, like others who live around here, said she was shocked to hear someone was killed.

"Seems awfully close to home for that to happen in Clarke County. You don't typically see something like that, if you look around it's a pretty quaint, humble town, so to hear something like that is pretty crazy," said the woman.

Police are asking anyone with information about this incident to contact them immediately.