Nov. 05--State police say they have surveillance footage that shows Michael Ruppert -- who was found dead along Interstate 83 near the Loganville exit on Oct. 27 -- clinging to the back of a moving tractor-trailer earlier that morning in Newberry Township.
After state police released news of Ruppert's death, they received a call from a truck driver who said he thought he had an altercation with Ruppert, 24, earlier that morning, Trooper Adam Reed said.
The driver said that about 3:30 a.m., he was at the Rutter's near the I-83 exit in Newberry Township when a man asked for a ride and tried to get inside his truck.
The driver refused and left the store, Reed said. When investigators checked video footage from the Rutter's and other businesses in the area, they were able to positively identify Ruppert as the man who had tried to get inside the tractor-trailer, Reed said.
"The video further showed that he was literally on the back of the trailer as it was pulling out of Rutter's," Reed said.
The distance between the Newberry and Loganville exits on I-83 is 22 miles. But it's still not known exactly what happened.
Reed said troopers are trying to piece together how Ruppert's body ended up just north of the Loganville exit.
His body was discovered about 5:15 a.m., police said previously.
Ruppert was found in the southbound lanes of I-83, struck by at least one vehicle, according to the York County Coroner's Office.
Family members, speaking after his death, said he had suffered from a number of physical ailments, including nagging injuries in both his back and knee.
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Copyright 2012 - York Daily Record, Pa.
