Law enforcement officials are now investigating the death of an Arkadelphia man as a homicide

By The Arkadelphian

This article was updated 8/17/23 to include the name of the deceased’s father.

The Warren Police Department said in a press release Thursday that Eli Perrin, 21, was believed to have been killed in a hit-and-run incident. A preliminary autopsy the department received on Wednesday indicates that Perrin’s death “was the result of being struck by a motor vehicle” based on a finding from the state Medical Examiner’s Office.

Perrin’s body was found earlier this week in a parking lot in Warren, about 3 miles from the scene of where his vehicle had been found crashed into a utility pole.

While WPD and the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office are leading the investigation, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office is sharing information with investigators, Sheriff Jason Watson told us. Perrin, the son of Jason Perrin and Arkadelphia physician Shelly Bray, had been living in the Warren area during his involvement in a forestry internship, according to Watson.

Both WPD and the BCSO are asking anyone with information to contact their departments at 870-226-3703 or 226-3491 ext. 6.

ORIGINAL STORY:
The body of a young man from Arkadelphia was discovered early Tuesday three counties east of his [hometown]. The Warren Police Department is leading the investigation into the cause of death for 21-year-old Eli Perrin, of Arkadelphia.

Perrin’s body was found at about 5:12 a.m. in a parking lot on the corner of Gannaway and Church streets in the Bradley County city of Warren, according to a press release from that police department. At the scene, officers learned that Perrin’s vehicle had been involved in a one-vehicle accident on Highway 8, about 3 miles outside the city limits. The Bradley County Sheriff’s Office had investigated that accident earlier in the morning. 

According to Bradley County authorities, the vehicle “appeared to have veered off the highway and struck a light pole.” However, the driver abandoned the vehicle at the scene. There was no one else at the scene of the accident.

Clark County Sheriff Jason Watson said his office was notified of that accident when Bradley County deputies asked to check the address listed on Perrin’s driver’s license, which they found at the scene. “Our involvement was to see if he was at the residence,” Watson told The Arkadelphian.

Perrin’s body was processed and sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory for an autopsy and to determine a cause of death, according to Warren police. The incident is being investigated as a crime pending results from the Arkansas Medical Examiner’s Office. Police in Warren and Bradley County are asking anyone with information regarding either incident to call 870-226-3703 or 870-226-3491 ext. 6.