The search for the suspect in last weekend’s Kentucky highway shooting has taken authorities into a massive, dense forest that’s been compared to a jungle in the southeastern part of the state. The manhunt for Joseph Couch, 32, has been going on since Saturday, when authorities say he shot and wounded five people who were traveling on Interstate 75.

The shooting happened near London, Kentucky, a city of about 8,000 outside Daniel Boone National Forest, which has “some of the most rugged terrain west of the Appalachian Mountains,” according to the U.S. Forest Service. The terrain includes “steep forested slopes, sandstone cliffs and narrow ravines,” according to the agency.

“It is like a jungle,” Kentucky State Police Master Trooper Scottie Pennington told reporters Monday, “and we have cliff beds, we have sinkholes, we have caves, we had culverts that go under the interstate. We have creeks and rivers and the dense brush. I mean, it’s not something I can just take my dog for a natural walk through.”

The forest spans more than 2.1 million acres, including state and privately owned land, according to the Forest Service. The agency manages over 707,000 acres of the area and Pennington said it’s been assisting with the search.

In addition to the Forest Service, multiple law enforcement agencies are also helping with the search effort, including the FBI, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, local police forces, sheriff’s departments and the U.S. Marshals Service, Pennington said. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has also provided boats to navigate rivers in the forest.

Pennington posted a video to social media Tuesday showing the dense brush that search teams are combing through with the help of dogs.

He noted that while investigators are looking for the suspect, they’re also gathering anything he may have left behind.

“Our ground teams, you know, they’re like snails, they’re going very slowly to make sure they don’t leave anything unturned,” he said. “It might be a tree that’s knocked over, and it doesn’t look right the way it’s knocked over or something, a piece of trash on the ground, a candy bar wrapper, anything like that. I mean, we have to collect those because that might be part of the evidence.”

Meanwhile, helicopters and drones have been searching from the air, with the helicopters able to track heat sources on the ground.

As difficult as the area has been to search, Pennington said he hopes a lack of resources in the forest helps drive the suspect out of hiding.

“I hope he doesn’t have water, I hope he doesn’t have food, and I hope he’s just, he’s wore out, and eventually he’ll walk out of them woods,” he said.

Authorities are also looking for signs that the suspect may have died in the forest, like buzzards circling overhead.

“We’re going to stay in the woods till we find him, and, you know, that’s our job,” Pennington said. “If he’s dead or alive, it’s our job to try to find him, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

The search for a man accused of injuring five people when he opened fire on a Kentucky highway has stretched into its fifth day as authorities scour a “jungle”-like forest terrain.

The suspect, identified as 32-year-old Joseph Couch, shot at vehicles that were traveling on Interstate 75 from a cliff near exit 49 on Saturday evening, authorities said. Sheriff’s deputies responded to calls at about 5:30 and found vehicles parked and riddled with bullets. Officials said at least a dozen vehicles were hit. Some of the five injured were in serious condition but all were expected to survive.

Couch planned to “kill a lot of people” and then himself, he said in a text message, according to an arrest affidavit. He had purchased a gun and ammunition hours before. He faces five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault, and will likely receive more charges.

Area schools were closed for another day Wednesday and the community of London and Laurel County was still on edge as the search stretched on. Authorities say the Daniel Boone National Forest, near where the shooting unfolded, poses unique challenges to search crews because of its landscape and vastness.

MAP AND TIMELINE: After active shooter opens fire on Kentucky highway, massive manhunt continues

Why is the search taking so long? Daniel Boone National Forest is ‘like a jungle’

Authorities have been scouring the rolling woods near Laurel County for days in search of Couch and other evidence linked to the shooting. The notoriously rugged terrain of the area has compounded the difficulty of finding him, according to law enforcement officials.

“We are in the Daniel Boone National Forest, and this is thousands and thousands of acres,” said Scottie Pennington, public affairs officer for Kentucky State Police, in a Monday news briefing. “It is like a jungle.”

Law enforcement officials have deployed helicopters, drones and dogs to search the area where Couch vanished into the forest, after officials found his car and gun near the scene of the shooting. Cold nights and humid days, paired with a lack of food and water, will hopefully draw him out of the woods to surrender himself to law enforcement, Pennington said.

Cliffs, sinkholes, caves, culverts, creeks and rivers, and dense brush are complicating the manhunt for the Laurel County shooting suspect, Pennington said, along with wildlife that includes venomous snakes.

“The Daniel Boone National Forest embraces some of the most rugged terrain west of the Appalachian Mountains,” according to the U.S. Forest Service, and contains “steep forested slopes, sandstone cliffs and narrow ravines.” 

Daniel Boone National Forest sprawls across more than 700,000 acres and 21 Kentucky counties. Taking a wrong step along wooded ridges or encountering dangerous wildlife adds risk in the region, especially off-trail, where law enforcement officials are now searching.

Daniel Boone National Forest has proven challenging to search teams in the past — even in cases when the missing person wanted to be found. In July, search teams found Scott Hern, 48, alive after he went missing in the forest for two weeks and spent an estimated 12 days without access to food or water, according to search and rescue officials. 

Contributing: John Bacon, Cybele Mayes-Osterman and Minnah Arshad, USA TODAY; The Louisville Courier Journal

It’s still early, but we have a four-way tie at the top of the standings for our Courier Journal sports staff weekly college football picks.

Everyone suffered a Week 2 loss with Kentucky’s 25-point setback against South Carolina at Kroger Field.

While Ryan Black, C.L. Brown, Alexis Cubit and Jason Frakes are tied for first place, sports director Natalie Pierre remains at the bottom of the standings.

Here’s a look at this week’s picks. As is our custom, predictions are straight-up winners and losers (not against the spread), with rankings based on the latest US LBM Coaches Poll. All times listed are ET.

How to watch: Noon Saturday, ESPNU

The picks: Six for Cincinnati and two for Miami (Pierre and Black)

This will be the 128th meeting between these two in the Battle for the Victory Bell. The rivalry’s first game was played in 1888 and Saturday’s matchup will break a series tie, 60-60-7. Last season, Miami snapped its 16-game losing streak in the series with a 31-24 overtime win against Cincinnati. It was the first time the RedHawks won the bell since 2005.

C.L.’s picks against the spread: Will Kentucky cover in its Week 3 home game against No. 1 Georgia?

How to Watch: 3:30 p.m. Saturday, CBS

The picks: Eight for Notre Dame

Notre Dame opened the season with an impressive win over Texas A&M but followed that up with a 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois. The Irish are 28-14-2 when playing at Purdue and have won the last eight against the Boilermakers. Hudson Card completed 24 of 25 passes and threw four touchdowns in Purdue’s 49-0 season-opening win over Indiana State.

How to watch: 7 p.m. Saturday, ESPN+

The picks: Eight for Western Kentucky

Western Kentucky is coming off a 31-0 shutout at home against in-state rival Eastern Kentucky. WKU beat Middle Tennessee, 31-10, last season to improve to 37-35-1 in the “100 Miles of Hate” rivalry. The two programs first faced each other in 1914, but they didn’t meet from 1992-2006.

How to watch: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, ABC

The picks: Eight for Georgia

Kentucky is trying to get its first SEC win after falling to South Carolina at home in its league opener. The Wildcats gained 183 yards of total offense with 44 passing yards against the Gamecocks. No. 1 Georgia has prevented its first two opponents from scoring a touchdown and is coming off a 31-point win over a ranked Clemson team.

How to watch: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, NBC

The picks: Five for Indiana and three for UCLA (Brown, Cubit and Frakes)

Indiana scored a program-high 77 points last week in a win against Western Illinois. Ten different Hoosiers scored a touchdown as the offense rushed for 335 yards and passed for 378 yards. This is the first meeting between these two programs on the football field. This is UCLA’s first season in the Big Ten.

The standings

1 (tie) – Ryan Black (last week 4-1), 9-1

1 (tie) – C.L. Brown (last week 4-1), 9-1

1 (tie) – Alexis Cubit (last week 4-1), 9-1

1 (tie) – Jason Frakes (last week 4-1), 9-1

5 (tie) – Richard Barak (last week 3-2), 8-2

5 (tie) – Brooks Holton (last week 3-2), 8-2

5 (tie) – Prince James Story (last week 3-2), 8-2

8 – Natalie Pierre (last week 3-2), 7-3

Reach sports reporter Prince James Story at pstory@gannett.com and follow him on X at @PrinceJStory.