Late on a Thursday night in late summer 2016, two men from Beattyville were shot and later found in a wooded area off Hell Creek Road in Lee County, Kentucky. Billy Ryan Roark, 28, was discovered the morning of Friday, August 5; investigators say he had been fatally shot. James R. Brown, 36, was found in the same remote area on Saturday and is believed to have been shot on that same Thursday night in a separate incident.

The initial 911 call came from Wesley T. Johnson, who told dispatchers his friend Billy had been shot and described a scenario in which several people forced them from their vehicle and led Billy away. Other suspects later contradicted that account, accusing Johnson of being armed and arguing with Roark before the shooting, creating conflicting narratives.

Authorities arrested multiple people in connection with the double homicide. Anthony T. Taylor and Kasandra K. White were charged with murder and complicity to murder; Wesley T. Johnson and Kevin F. Kendall were charged with complicity to murder. Jay N. Shoemaker and Raign D. Griffin were also charged with complicity to commit murder in Roark’s death, and Amy Turner and Alysia Hensley were arrested on hindering prosecution charges.

Anyone who knew Billy Roark, James Brown, or who was in the Hell Creek Road area that night is asked to share what they remember.