Authorities are investigating the suspected murder of a contractor found dead at a U.S. military construction site on Kapaun Air Station, part of the Kaiserslautern Military Community in Germany. The prime suspect, a colleague of the victim, fled the country before he could be apprehended. (Alexcia Givens/U.S. Air Force)

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — An international manhunt is underway after a 63-year-old civilian worker was found dead in what authorities suspect was a murder at a U.S. military construction site on Kapaun Air Station in Kaiserslautern.

The man likely died from violent causes, Kaiserslautern’s public prosecutor and Westpfalz Police said Monday in a joint statement.

The victim, an employee of a company contracted for work on the base, was found dead by his supervisor on the morning of Aug. 3, Westpfalz Police said Monday.

An autopsy conducted the next day found signs of foul play, German officials said, adding that they identified a 28-year-old colleague of the contractor as a primary suspect.

“The 28-year-old was able to flee abroad before his arrest and has not yet returned,” Westpfalz police said in the statement.

The suspect’s whereabouts remain unknown and motives have yet to be determined, officials said.

An initial report from the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein Air Base on Friday indicated that German police immediately assumed the investigative lead in accordance with “jurisdictional protocols.”

The incident occurred within the Kaiserslautern Military Community, which hosts the largest concentrations of U.S. military personnel outside the United States, housing over 50,000 American service members, civilian employees and their families.

Stars and Stripes reporter Jennifer Svan contributed to this report.