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Officials think body found on I-26 was suicide

POLK COUNTY—The Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to a deceased person along Interstate 26 between mile markers 69 and 70 on Monday afternoon. 

The sheriff’s office was dispatched shortly after 4 p.m. to a person possibly hanging from a tree in the woods off Interstate 26. Deputies and first responders located an abandoned car along the interstate and a deceased person in the woods. 

Sheriff’s deputies said the deceased person appears to have died from a self-initiated cause. 

The person was identified as Michael Levy Jr., 33, of Hendersonville. Levy had been reported missing in Hendersonville and believed at the time of his disappearance to be suicidal, according to sheriff reports. 

Levy also had an outstanding order for arrest for violating a court order in pending felony cases in Henderson County, according to Polk County Sheriff’s Office attorney and public information officer J.J. Sauve. 

Sauve said the family of the deceased has been notified by the Hendersonville Police Department and the case will remain open until a final medical examine is complete. 

Polk County Sheriff Tim Wright said mental health is of utmost concern during the holiday season and remains a front-and-center issue at all times in today’s world. 

Wright encourages everyone to keep check on one another, to always be there for one another and to never hesitate to reach out for help. 

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is staffed 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255 or by texting TALK to 741-741.

Further resources on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention can be found at

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/suicide-prevention/index.shtml

https://afsp.org/

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/