Cave explorer died of self-inflicted gunshot wound

The coroner's office says cave explorer Kevin Eve died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A group of college students exploring the cave found the remains Sunday afternoon, said Crawford Co. Sheriff Tim Wilkerson. Kevin Eve was an Iraq war vet and avid cave explorer, and had been missing for four months.

The 25-year-old Georgetown, Indiana native had last been seen October 1. He was reported missing after his car was found on a gravel road near the cave.

Emergency crews and volunteers searched for Eve in area caves for weeks.

But it wasn't until Sunday afternoon, when a group of college students exploring the "Breathing Hole" cave in Harrison-Crawford State Forest, found human remains and called police.

Crews had a tough time bringing the body from the cave to the surface -- a half-mile walk through the brush, then a 150-foot drop and a half-mile of crawling through the cave, just to get to the body.

Once inside, rescue workers and volunteers needed to move the body across a half-mile of one tight cave passage and another 154 feet up a vertical passage.

The students who found the body weren't supposed to be there since the state closed that cave and hundreds of others in the area to prevent the spread of "white-nose syndrome," a fungal disease that's deadly to bats.

There's no word on whether those students will face charges.