HAMILTON, Ohio —

Two men are dead after a series of bizarre events that began with a crash and ended with one man being shot to death by police.

The crash was between two cars on Fairgrove Avenue in Hamilton.

Witnesses said they saw something unusual right away with a man who was standing outside of one of the vehicles.

“When I was coming up the road, he was pulling something out of that car,” said Jeff Black, who pulled up just after the crash.

It turned out that something was someone.

At first, I thought it was a quilt or something like that, but it was actually the person.” Black said.

Black, who is a long-time mail carrier, was on his way home from work.

“I'm getting ready. Call 911. He takes off going up the road, Route 4, heading east, and so I decided to follow him,” Black said.

Black stayed on the phone with 911 dispatchers helping to guide police to Morris Road, where the suspect stopped.

Other witnesses called 911, telling dispatchers the man had a gun, but Black was unaware of the weapon.

Police arrived on the scene.

“They asked him to drop it, put the gun down, drop it,” Black said. “That's when I knew he had a gun.”

The man took off into the woods.

He reappears about a half mile away on Tara Brooke Court when police said he confronted two Hamilton police officers. Few details have been released on the altercation, but the officers shot the man to death.

The officers have been put on administrative leave.

No names have been released.

COLLEGE CORNER, Ohio —

Human remains found in Hueston Woods are believed to be those of a man missing for more than two years.

Michael McKenney, 28, was last seen May 23, 2020. Investigators said there are strong indicators he has now been found.

“I'm totally not quitting until he's positively identified,” said McKenney’s mother Yolanda Middleton. “I'm a fighter. I'm not a quitter and I'm not going to quit until I know for certain, but everything points to that it is him.”

Texas Equisearch, Christian Aid Ministries and other volunteers have continued searching and Wednesday they made the discovery in a remote part of Hueston Woods.

“It's almost like you're going through the whole process over again, to be honest, from day one,” Middleton said. “I didn't know if we'd ever, ever come to this day.”

The family said there were some of McKenney’s personal effects found with the remains and some specific physical characteristics were the same.

“There were some things definitely strongly suggesting that it was him,” said Fairfield Township Police Sgt. Brandon McCroskey.

McCroskey said the cause of death could come with the coroner’s report, but so much time has passed, it could also be undetermined.

The case is in such early stages police cannot yet rule out foul play, however, there are no obvious indicators that anyone else was involved.

“I will say that we're not looking for anybody right now. We're not looking for any suspects at this point,” McCroskey said.

The identity will be confirmed by DNA. That could take weeks or even months to get back.

A search of a Fairfield Twp. lake came up empty for a resident missing since May, according to the Journal-News.

Fairfield Twp. police Sgt. Brandon McCroskey said officials received information last weekend there might be evidence related to the search for Michael McKenney, 29.

“We talked to a couple of people and we, of course, wanted to verify that was accurate so they had the Butler County dive team come out and check and we didn’t find anything at all,” he said.

McCroskey said they searched Wednesday the water near the Linden Lake Apartments, and the police department will follow every lead they receive “so we can try to get some closure for the family.” However, part of the problem, he said, is some of the people believed to be involved in McKenney’s disappearance are now dead.

A possible male involved died from an overdose, and a woman directly involved died from medical issues, McCroskey said.

“I can’t even say if there was foul play because at this point there’s not enough (evidence) to say that,” he said.

McKenney was last seen on May 22 and was reported missing the next day. His car and personal items, including a cellphone, were found at Hueston Woods. McKenney is 5-8 and has two full sleeves of tattoos. The family has set up a GoFundMe page in order to hire a private investigator.

Anyone with information about McKenney should contact the Fairfield Twp. Police Department at 513-887-4406.