BILLINGS — Two people being sought for questioning in a homicide in Billings died of gunshot wounds while being pursued by law enforcement officers near West Yellowstone, officials in Billings and Gallatin County said.
Roxann Renee Watson was found in her Billings home on Thursday afternoon by officers performing a welfare check, police said.
Watson, 64, died of strangulation and multiple bunt force injuries, Yellowstone County Coroner Rich Hoffman told The Billings Gazette Friday. It’s not clear when she died, he said.
An investigation identified two potential suspects and officers issued a statewide bulletin with information about the vehicle and the suspects.
Officers from several state and federal agencies were involved in a pursuit of the vehicle at about 10:30 p.m. when the suspects got out of the vehicle and ran into the woods near West Yellowstone, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) from Billings.
“The officers did not pursue them into the woods and set up a perimeter,” Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
The county’s K9 unit found the suspects’ bodies at about 2:30 a.m. Friday, Springer said.
The names of the suspects have not been released. The Gallatin County Coroner’s Office is investigating the deaths near West Yellowstone.