'Persons of interest' questioned in fatal hit-and-run northwest of Muncie

MUNCIE, Ind. — Delaware County sheriff's deputies are investigating a fatality stemming from a hit-and-run incident northwest of Muncie.

According to Chief Deputy Jeff Stanley, a man's body was found along Delaware County Road 600-W, between County Road 500-N and Ind. 28. Delaware County emergency dispatchers said the first related call was received shortly after 8 a.m.

Delaware County Coroner Gavin Greene later identified the victim as 40-year-old Joe Andrew Herron Jr., believed to be from North Carolina.

Stanley said Wednesday morning initial indications were Herron — who was walking along County Road 600-W wearing "darker colored clothes" — might have been struck by a southbound vehicle that fled from the scene. That vehicle would likely have damage "to its front passenger side and (be) missing a side-view mirror," the chief deputy said.

Later in the day, the chief deputy said investigators had found the vehicle involved in the incident, which was being processed by the sheriff's department's crime scene unit.

"Persons of interest," meanwhile, were being questioned by detectives.

"We do not believe this was an intentional incident," said Stanley, adding that evidence in the case would be forwarded to Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman's office for a determination of what charges might be filed.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Suspects questioned in fatal hit-and-run northwest of Muncie