
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 4, 1990                   TAG: 9005040259
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: NEAL THOMPSON NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: GATEWOOD                                 LENGTH: Medium

BODY FOUND AT GATEWOOD DAM

The body of a man who appeared to have been shot to death was found by a hunter Thursday morning at the base of the Gatewood Dam in a remote western section of Pulaski County.

Police identified the man as Timothy Dean Primm, 27, of Route 1, Allisonia. He was found dead about 7 a.m. by a hunter who was walking along North Peak Creek at the foot of the dam near the Wythe County border.

He apparently died from at least one gunshot wound, said Pulaski Lt. Barry Buckner.

"We're working it as a murder," Buckner said.

Pulaski Lt. J.T. Back said late Thursday that no one had been arrested and that he couldn't disclose whether there were any suspects. The investigation continued into the night.

Police were notified by the hunter about 7:30 a.m. Initially, they didn't know the identity of the dead man, but family members confirmed it Thursday afternoon, Back said.

Primm's body was taken by Pulaski County's New River Valley Rescue Squad to Pulaski Community Hospital. From there, it was taken to Roanoke, where an autopsy was scheduled to be performed.

Buckner said he couldn't say what type of gun may have been used, how long the body had been there or what condition the body was in when it was found until after the autopsy.

Primm was found face down at the end of a dirt section of Mount Olivet Road in the Gatewood section of the county about six miles outside the town of Pulaski. He was found lying in a pool of blood at the base of the large concrete dam that retains Gatewood Reservoir, which provides drinking water to the town. Pulaski police investigated the shooting because the town owns the property where Primm's body was found.

The rescue squad removed the body about 9 a.m. while police took plaster impressions of tire tracks and scoured the wooded area next to the trout fishing creek for clues. Buckner and other investigators returned to the site Thursday afternoon with hip waders to search the creek for more clues.

Buckner said North Peak Creek is stocked with trout and is a popular fishing spot. The area was littered with empty beer cans and bottles and other trash.

by CNB