Sheriff's Officials ID Southwest Travis County Homicide Victim, 'Person Of Interest' Sought [UPDATED]

UPDATE: Travis County Sheriff's Office officials have identified the man found dead under suspicious circumstances at his southwest Travis County home on Friday as Jim Short, 74. Local media outlets have reported that the deceased man was an Austin defense attorney.

On Saturday afternoon, sheriff's officials released surveillance camera images of a man now considered a "person of interest" in the case. The man sought could be driving a 1999 tan, Chevrolet Suburban with Texas license plates DRW-3438.

Anyone seeing this man or his vehicle is urged to call 911 immediately without trying to approach. Anyone with additional information that might prove useful to investigators are asked to call the sheriff's office Tip Line at 512-854-1444 or Crime Stoppers at 512-472-8477.

Sheriff's deputies responded to a check welfare call on April 7 just before noon along the 8000 block of Rockwood Circle. Once gaining entry into the home, deputies found a deceased male dead under suspicious circumstances. Detectives were able to secure at search warrant to enter the home just before 5 p.m. when they made the discovery.

The Travis County Medical Examiner currently is conducting an investigation to determine the decedent’s identity as well as the cause and manner of death.

From April 7:

TRAVIS COUNTY, TX — Travis County Sheriff's Office officials on Friday were investigating the suspicious death of a what some media outlets have identified as an Austin defense attorney in his southwest Travis County home, according to reports.

The victim was found in his home along the 8000 block of Rockwood Circle, off U.S. 290, sheriff's spokeswoman Kristen Dark told Patch in a telephone conversation from the scene. She said law enforcement authorities received a call requesting deputies check on the man's welfare at about 11:45 a.m.

A search warrant was subsequently secured, allowing deputies to enter the home to find the attorney dead inside, she said. However, she did not release the gender or occupation of the victim in spite of media reports providing such details, she said.

"Right now, we're on scene working on a suspicious death," Dark told Patch late Friday afternoon. "We have not been in the residence for very long, and we're in the initial phases of the investigation."

Given the preliminary nature of the investigation, Dark said she wasn't able to provide more details until the medical examiner concluded an investigation into the death. She noted that a press conference was scheduled later Friday evening to apprise media outlets on the case.

No further details were released. Patch will update this story as more details become available.

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