A southeastern Kentucky man was charged Tuesday with the slayings of three men found in a van parked near a trail in January.

Buster Edward Gambrel, 46, of Pineville, was charged with three counts of murder in the deaths of Donnie Joe Fuston, 56, of Pineville, Arley Carnes, 49, and Bryan Carnes, 31, both of Arjay. The three men were found with fatal gunshot wounds in Kettle Island shortly after 2 p.m on Jan. 2 by an area resident riding an ATV.

Kentucky State Police Public Affairs Officer Walt Meachum said Tuesday, after a lengthy investigation, Det. Mitchell Williams executed a warrant on Gambrel at the Bell County Detention Center.

In a previous Enterprise report, Meachum said the van was taken from the scene to a location where the investigators had good lighting. The bodies of the three men were then removed and sent to the Kentucky State Police Crime Lab in Frankfort for an autopsy.

Bryan Lewis, of Kettle Island, told the Lexington Herald-Leader that Bryan Carnes was his nephew. He said Arley Carnes also was an uncle to Bryan Carnes.

Lewis said Bryan Carnes was a coal miner with three children who will have to be cared for by their grandparents because their mother was killed in a car crash more than a year ago.

Individuals congregated at a store about a mile from the mouth of Kettle Island when the three men were found dead. They said the site where the bodies were discovered was known as Tipple Hill.

The murder charges are Class A felonies. The case remains under investigation by Williams.