New York man found dead in truck parked on N. Lumpkin Road
Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a New York man off Victory Drive in Columbus early Wednesday morning. It is the 17th slaying in Columbus this year and the sixth in the last two weeks.

At approximately 2:02 a.m., police responded to the parking lot of 3473 N. Lumpkin Road, where they found John Belfance, 52, of Fonda, N.Y., in an 18-wheeler tractor-trailer dead with a gunshot wound to the left side of the chest.

Belfance was pronounced dead at 2:16 a.m. His body was sent to the crime lab in Atlanta for an autopsy.

Police Lt. Steve Cox said police have no suspects yet.

“We’re following up on some information we have,” he said.

Belfance’s death was the second murder in Columbus in two days, and the sixth in 12 days. The recent spate of killings has many residents in the community frightened for their safety, and police have responded by creating a 19-officer task force to concentrate on high-crime areas.

A police report on the latest slaying said Belfance worked for C.V. Holdings Trucking Co.

An employee with C.V. Holdings said in a phone interview that the New York-based company has manufacturing plants in Auburn, Ala., but that the company would not comment at the time. She declined to give her name.

Damond Wyatt, a crew chief at the Captain D’s near where the truck was found, said truckers sometimes stop in the area to rest and get food.