Halloween began with a homicide investigation in a remote cul de sac not far from the Oconee River bridge in Baldwin County.

The body of a 30-year-old Covington man was lying off Treanor Drive.

The dead-end street turns off Kings Road near the state highway that connects Milledgeville to Sparta.

A neighbor spotted the body and called authorities about 7:15 a.m. as the sun was beginning to rise over nearby ridges.

What might have looked like a Halloween prank was a man last seen Tuesday night in Newton County in a gold 2000 Mercury Sable. Its Georgia license plate reads BZX 8123, said Capt. Brad King of the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office.

“He was a passenger in that car,” King said late Wednesday afternoon after making a decision not to release the man’s name until Thursday morning.

“The family said he left home in that vehicle.”

Baldwin County deputies identified him from his fingerprints and were in contact with neighboring law enforcement agencies in Newton and other surrounding counties.

People who live along the wooded street of sloping hills could say little Wednesday morning about the commotion.

One couple heard several patrol cars, a fire truck and an ambulance go by, but were shocked to learn that someone was found dead on their street.

“Best we can tell he has two gunshot wounds to the chest,” King said.

Investigators also are looking for a primary crime scene where the shooting took place.

“Right now we believe it occurred somewhere else,” King said.

One woman, who was not home at the time of the discovery, said her street has been used as a dumping ground before.

King remembered a suspect’s vehicle was ditched in the woods in a stabbing case several years ago.

In this week’s killing, the body of the black male initially was taken to the morgue for inspection before it was sent to the GBI Crime Lab in Macon for an autopsy, King said.

To contact writer Liz Fabian, call 744-4303.