HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — One suspect in the beating death of a man in Cabell County was in police custody as the search continued Friday for a second suspect believed to have drowned in the Guyandotte River while trying to evade capture.
Anthony Scott Adkins, 31, of Huntington, was being held at the Western Regional Jail on an aggravated murder charge for the death of Douglas E. Daniels, 39, of Huntington.
Huntington Police reported Daniels was beaten with a rock along the Guyandotte River near the 5th Avenue Bridge before 9 p.m. Thursday.
Alcohol may have been a factor in the beating, according to officials.
An autopsy was pending on Friday.
The missing suspect was seen running from the beating scene and jumping into the Guyandotte River. As he swam to shore, he spotted officers and turned to swim toward the middle of the river where he went under and did not resurface, investigators said.
The Guyandotte River flows into the Ohio River near where the suspect was last seen.
The search for that man continued on Friday, what officials were calling a “recovery mission.”