There are three releases. One was issued at 3:30 AM, another at 4:30 PM on Tuesday, June 8th

A third release was issued late Wednesday afternoon saying John Peck killed himself.

Media Briefing
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Tuesday, June 8, 2004
3:30 a.m.
Fatality Investigation
At about 4:40 p.m. Monday, June 7, Rangers at Great Smoky Mountains
National Park received a BOLO from the Blue Ridge Parkway which had been
issued by the New Hanover County, North Carolina Sheriffs Office for John
Brian Peck, 27, wanted for first degree murder. Peck was alleged to have
shot an ex-girlfriend with a rifle at approximately 9:45 p.m. on Friday
June 4. A warrant was on file for the crime. Peck was reported to be
armed and dangerous and had made statements to friends that he would not be
taken alive.
Rangers encountered an individual believed to be Peck at Newfound Gap on
the Tennessee-North Carolina state line within the Park at 11:16 p.m. and
then he was observed travelling south on US 441. Rangers and Cherokee
Police Department set up a roadblock on U.S. 441 near Collins Creek Picnic
Area, about 7 miles north of Cherokee, NC. A vehicle matching the BOLO
description was observed approaching the roadblock, but turned around and
headed northbound. Gunshots were reported at 11:34 p.m. in the vicinity
of the roadblock.
The subject vehicle was found wrecked a few miles north of the roadblock
along U.S. 441. Rangers found one male subject at the crash site and a
weapon. Earlier reports of a female victim in the Park were erroneous.
The cause of the subject’s death has not been confirmed, and the subject
has not been confirmed to be Peck.
The area remains closed in order to secure the crime scene pending
collection of evidence. U.S. 441 (Newfound Gap Road) is currently closed
between the Smokemont Campground, about 3 miles south of the Collins Creek
Picnic Area, and Sugarlands Visitor Center in Tennessee.
Cherokee Police Department, and EMS are also on-scene. New Hanover County
Sheriffs Deputies and FBI are en route to the Park. The investigation is
being conducted jointly by national park rangers and the FBI.
Newfound Gap Road remains closed – probably until morning to allow for a
search of the scene in daylight.
An investigation will continue through the early morning hours and an
update on the incident will be provided after 8 a.m.

MEDIA BRIEFING
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK
TUESDAY, JUNE 8, 2004
4:30 P.M
MURDER SUSPECT FATALITY – JOHN BRIAN PECK A press conference was held today, June 8, at 1:30 p.m. that includedlaw enforcement officials from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, theFederal Bureau of Investigation, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the
New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office involving the manhunt and death of
murder suspect John Brian Peck. Peck, 27, was a suspect in the June 4
shooting death of his former girlfriend, 22- year-old Christen Naujoks, a
student at WNCW.
The FBI, working with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office and
other state and local law enforcement agencies followed a series of leads
tracking Peck’s movements into Western North Carolina which led to
issuance
of a BOLO, be on the lookout, through the NCIC, National Crime Information
Center. Yesterday afternoon around 4:40 p.m., the Park, along with
several other surrounding law enforcement agencies, received the BOLO
notifying them of the alert for John Peck, a white male, driving a dark
green 2000 Toyota Four Runner, bearing NC-tags, SRR-8120. Peck was also
reported to possibly be armed with an SKS assault rifle and was described
as armed and extremely dangerous.
A ranger approached Peck at Newfound Gap, on the Tennessee/North
Carolina state line and had a brief conversation with him at 11:16 p.m.
yesterday. Through that contact the ranger reported that he had been in
contact with Peck. Peck then drove southbound on Newfound Gap Road (U.S.
441). Park Rangers established two road blocks. One was located at the
junction of Newfound Gap Road and Clingmans Dome Road to prevent Peck from
travelling north into Tennessee. Another roadblock, which employed tire
spikes, was set with the assistance of the Cherokee Police Department alongNewfound Gap Road around the Collins Creek area, 10 miles south of NewfoundGap.
Peck approached the roadblock but then turned around and began
heading northbound on Newfound Gap Road at a high rate of speed. At the
roadblock area Peck fired towards the officers and the gunfire was
returned. Rangers and Cherokee Police Officers pursued Peck for about 4
miles at which point the vehicle’s lights disappeared. Enforcement
officers approached the site using spotlights and were able to confirm thatthe vehicle had rolled down a 60-foot-steep embankment before coming to
rest in a creek. Peck’s body and vehicle were removed from the scene
around 3:30 p.m. to allow law enforcement officials adequate time to
conduct a thorough investigation of the scene. A rifle was recovered at
the site of the vehicle. The Swain County Medical Examiner was at the
scene to collect and gather evidence to help determine the cause of death.
The body will be transported to Chapel Hill where the state medical
examiner will perform an autopsy that will determine the cause of death andwill also validate the subject’s identity.
Chief Ranger Jim Northup said that “we are very impressed with and
grateful for the dedication and professionalism of our own rangers and the
Cherokee Police Officers. We sincerely appreciate the cooperation of the
FBI who helped locate Peck’s whereabouts, as well as helping to document
the crime scene. It’s hard to overemphasize the courage and discipline
it
takes to approach an armed and dangerous subject in pitch darkness and in
the woods. Their willingness to secure the scene under these conditions isa tribute to their concern over public safety. A lot of good decisions
were made to allow us to bring this to a conclusion so quickly and without
injury to law enforcement personnel.”
Newfound Gap Road is expected to open this afternoon as soon as the
vehicle is be removed.

Cause of Fugitive Death Determined to be Suicide
The FBI notified Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials today
that the autopsy of John Brian Peck confirms that the cause of death was a
self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
It is believed that while driving north on the Newfound Gap Road in
the Park, Peck shot himself with his rifle while his vehicle was still in
motion. All indications are that Peck was deceased prior to the car
proceeding off the side of the roadway and down the mountainside. A
severely damaged baseball cap found inside the vehicle and a bullet hole
(exit path) in the roof of the vehicle provided investigators with evidence
of the method of the suicide and the path of the bullet, that was confirmed
by today's autopsy.