Man found dead near golf course entrance

COLUMBIA — A Boonville brick layer was found dead by police near the Old Hawthorne Golf Course on Wednesday morning.

Shortly before 9 a.m., Columbia police responded to a report of an unresponsive male found near a Porta-John at the golf course entrance on Old Hawthorne Drive West, said Sergeant Ken Hammond of the Columbia Police Department. There is currently no indication of foul play, Hammond said, though the Major Crimes Unit is conducting an investigation.

The man, identified as Harold Perkins of Boonville, was transported to Boone Hospital Center where medical staff declared him deceased, Hammond said. Perkins, 40, had been working in the Columbia area.

The Boone/Callaway Medical Examiners office planned to conduct an autopsy later Wednesday, Hammond said.