Ren David Ely, 76, was found dead in a back bedroom of his Cumberland Gap home on the evening of May 17, 2019, after a domestic disturbance call to a residence on Cumberland Estates Road. Deputies reported a large amount of blood at the scene; the victim was unresponsive and covered by a camouflage blanket. A semi-automatic pistol and its magazine were located on the floor near the body. The initial call came in about 5:38 p.m.

Authorities identified the suspect as the victim’s son, 44-year-old Daniel Franklin Ely. At the scene Daniel Ely reportedly told officers his father had been holding his mother at gunpoint and that he had to shoot him. He was taken into custody and initially charged with criminal homicide. A Claiborne County Sessions Court judge later upgraded the charge to first-degree murder, and a grand jury returned a true bill in September 2019. The Claiborne County Sheriff’s Office investigated the shooting.

Did anyone in Cumberland Gap know the Ely family or witness events around Cumberland Estates Road that evening?