Trending
ELKINS -- Longtime Elkins resident Preston L. "Patch" Higgins was found dead with a gunshot wound by the West Virginia State Police Monday.
According to information released by the Elkins Detachment of the State Police, at approximately 10:47 a.m. on Monday morning, Trooper B.K. Riffle responded to a 911 call for a deceased male at 1366 Ward Road.
Once on scene, Trooper Riffle located Higgins with a gunshot wound to his chest, along with a bruise/abrasion to his forehead, according to the release.
State Police said Higgins was discovered by his cousin Robert Higgins, who called 911 after no one had heard from his cousin for several days.
The State Police Crime Scene unit processed the scene on Monday.
The Inter-Mountain reached out to the Elkins Detachment Tuesday, but authorities said no further information on the incident would be released at this time.
Higgins was known throughout the Elkins area, and was a former employee with the City of Elkins, working as a custodian at City Hall and for the Street Department.
Jim Yorkey, assistant supervisor for the City of Elkins Street Department, said he worked with Higgins for several years.
"Patch was a good guy, easy going," Yorkey told The Inter-Mountain Tuesday. "He started working for the city the same time I did, about 15 years ago. I think he was here for four or five years. But I just saw him a couple Saturdays ago at Walmart and then he recently stopped by our garage and talked to our mechanics."
Yorkey said he saw state police vehicles sitting next to Higgins' home while traveling the Ward Road on Monday.
"I took the afternoon off Monday because of some plumbing problems and I was taking the Ward Road over to Ace Hardware when I saw two state troopers at the bottom of his hill," Yorkey said. "It never dawned on me that they were up at Patch's house. I have been to his house a few times. It's kind of crazy what happened."
A neighbor who lived close to Higgins and wished to remain anonymous told The Inter-Mountain that Higgins had lived at his home on the Ward Road for more than 20 years.
The incident is still under investigation by the West Virginia State Police.