UPDATED: Body found in Phil Campbell

The Phil Campbell Police Department and Franklin County Sheriff’s Office are investigating following the discovery of a body on the side of the road in Phil Campbell Sunday evening.

According to PC Chief Merrell Potter, 9-1-1 received a call about 6 p.m. Sunday.

“A resident in that area was riding a 4-wheeler and came upon it,” Potter said.

The body of April Welch Hamm, 39, of Phil Campbell, was discovered at the intersection of Highway 237 and Woodard Road. Phil Campbell Police Department contacted the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department for assistance in the case.

The body has been sent for autopsy.

“It didn’t appear to be a hit-and-run,” Potter said. “The injuries were not consistent with someone who had been hit by a vehicle.”

Those injuries included trauma to the head and face.

Potter said a person of interest in the case is being held in custody – a Phil Campbell man of the deceased’s acquaintance, with whom she was living. No charges have been filed, and Potter said the person of interest was cooperating with the investigation, under questioning by the FCSO.

“We’ve been trying to determine what he knows,” Potter said. The person being held is believed to be the last person to see Welch alive.

Welch had three children by a previous marriage, as well as other family living in the area, Potter said. “It was devastating last night to see them and not be able to tell them anything,” Potter said. “You just feel a little bit helpless.”

Potter said law enforcement is waiting the forensic report and autopsy results to be sent back, to “shine a little more light” on the circumstances surrounding Welch’s death.

No further details are available in the ongoing investigation.