By Beth Alston

AMERICUS — The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office is working two death investigations from the past weekend.
The first was reported at around 3 a.m. Saturday when a young man’s body was found in a vehicle on the side of South Lee Street Road near Three Bridges Road in southern, rural Sumter County.
The man, whose body was discovered by his girlfriend, was identified as a 19-year-old from Americus. Sumter County Deputy Coroner James Green said the body was sent to the GBI State Crime Lab in Macon for autopsy. Green said the man sustained a single gunshot wound to his forehead, and being that it was his car and his gun, it is most likely suicide. The Crime Lab had not made a determination as of midday Tuesday, Green said.
The sheriff’s office is also investigating another death. Sumter County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy, Col. Eric Bryant, told the Times-Recorder that the body of 45-year-old Catherine Krause of Warwick was found hanging from a backyard shed between 3:30 and 4 p.m. Sunday at a residence at 540 District Line Road, Americus. “It’s a suspicious death,” Bryant said, “because we have some unanswered questions.”
Bryant said the resident of the house, Brian Scott Turner, 47, was taken into custody on a 48-hour hold for investigation. James Green said Turner was very intoxicated at the scene and very upset and incoherent. Turner was released Monday evening, according to Bryant, who said criminal charges are pending the release of toxicology reports on Turner and Krause, which could take three to four months to complete. He also said the case remains under investigation because authorities are trying to ascertain if Turner notified others before summoning authorities to the scene.
Green said Tuesday around noon that he had heard from the Crime Lab that everything appeared to be a suicide, but everything is pending the toxicology reports.