Body of suspected highway shooter is found in Kentucky

US police have said they discovered a body believed to be that of a man suspected of shooting and wounding five people in cars travelling along a Kentucky road on 7 September, an outburst that led to a manhunt through rugged, wooded terrain.

Joseph Couch, 32, a former US Army reservist, fired on unsuspecting motorists with an AR-style semi automatic rifle that he purchased legally on the morning of the shooting along with 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

"I'm going to kill a lot of people. Well, try at least," Mr Couch is said to have written in a text message before the incident.

Investigators have not publicly speculated as to the gunman's motive.

Kentucky state troopers accompanied by a couple that had been searching for Mr Couch "stumbled upon an unidentified body," Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett told reporters.

Kentucky State Police offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to his capture and said a private donor offered an additional $10,000.

Multiple state, federal and local law enforcement agencies had been searching the Daniel Boone National Forest using helicopters, drones, dogs and special response teams, Trooper Scottie Pennington of the Kentucky State Police told reporters two days after the shooting.

The shooting took place on Interstate 75 about 13km outside the city of London in southeastern Kentucky.

Five people were injured, and at least 12 vehicles were hit, officials said.

Police allege Mr Couch started firing from a cliff above a remote stretch of the interstate.