Officials search for evidence near Rusk County home in murder in - FOX Carolina 21

Officials are investigating the death of the 79-year-old man found dead in a home in the 11-thousand block of FM 2012 as a murder. Sunday afternoon, the investigation was deemed a homicide, but authorities later changed it to be a murder investigation.

The body of the 79-year-old man whose identity authorities are not yet releasing was discovered Saturday by the mans nephew. His identity is also not being released.

Officials did confirm that the man who was found dead is the homeowner and was the only occupant of that home, located south of Kilgore in Rusk County.

While officials have not yet released details on the investigation or what had happened, they say that the death is being investigated as a murder. The Rusk County Sheriff's Office and Texas Rangers are investigating the incident.

Sunday afternoon, officials from the Rusk County Sheriff's Office, Henderson, Kilgore and Tatum all searched a 5-mile radius around the property for any physical evidence connected to the death of the 79-year-old man. Shortly after 3 P.M. officials discovered credit cards in the area, but have not yet said if they are related to the murder investigation. Around 4 P.M. Sunday, the search ended.

A homicide is described as the killing of a human being due to the act or omission of another. A murder is described as the killing of a human being by a sane person, with intent, malice aforethought (prior intention to kill the particular victim or anyone who gets in the way) and with no legal excuse or authority.

The Rusk County Sheriff's Office will be holding a press conference Monday at 1pm to release the findings of their investigation. KLTV 7 will be there and will have the very latest on this developing story posted on KLTV.com

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