Police probe shooting death of Ferguson activist Seals

RIVERVIEW, Mo. -- A 29-year-old man who police say was fatally shot before his body was found in a burning vehicle near St. Louis was a highly visible activist during protests over the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson.

St. Louis County police say Daren Seals' body was found early Tuesday in Riverview near Ferguson. His death is being investigated as a homicide. Authorities spelled his name as Daren, but other records show it as Darren.

Eighteen-year-old Brown, who was black and unarmed, was shot and killed in August 2014 by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. The death and a grand jury's decision not to indict Wilson led to sometimes-violent protests.

Viral video shows Seals comforting Brown's sobbing mother atop a car the night the grand jury's decision was announced.

Other activists during the Ferguson protests mourned Seals on social media Wednesday.