Nathan Tom Combs, 49, was found dead near a semi-truck west of Hereford in Weld County, Colorado, on May 18, 2017. Deputies initially thought he had been run over by his own vehicle, but further examination showed Combs had been shot twice in the head, and the death was treated as a homicide.

Investigators pursued a lengthy probe that eventually focused on a friend and co-worker, Mark Dean Switzer. Combs’s wife, Rebecca, told police Switzer had confessed to shooting Combs twice in the head with a .22-caliber rifle while Combs was kneeling and praying. A search of Switzer’s Carpenter, Wyoming, home produced firearms and ammunition that were submitted to multiple forensic laboratories for analysis.

Reports say Combs faced a prison sentence for child sexual exploitation charges and had made end-of-life arrangements in the months before his death; he reportedly asked Switzer to kill him. Questions remain about the events that night and how investigators tied the forensic results to the confession and the scene. Anyone with information about Combs, his travels in May 2017, or his associates is asked to come forward.