ALLENTOWN — Pennsylvania shooting spree suspect Bradley Stone has been found dead in the woods near his Pennsburg home, authorities said.

The body was found Tuesday about a half-mile from his apartment.

Police had been seeking Stone since identifying him as the suspect in Monday’s predawn killing spree that left his ex-wife, Nicole Hill, and five members of her family dead.

The troubled 35-year-old Iraq War veteran had been battling Hill over custody issues involving their two daughters, who are 7 and 5.

Authorities say the killing began at a Souderton home about 3:30 a.m. Monday, when Stone allegedly killed Hill’s sister, Patricia Flick, Flick’s husband, Aaron, and the couple’s 14-year-old daughter, Nina. The Flicks’ son, Anthony, survived the attack and is in serious but stable condition at a Philadelphia hospital.

Authorities said Stone then went to Lansdale and killed Hill’s mother, Jo Anne Koder, and grandmother, Patricia Hill, at their home. Finally, he went to Hill’s Lower Salford Township apartment, shot her to death and drove away with their daughters, authorities said.

Stone was last seen Monday morning when he dropped the girls at a neighbor’s house in Pennsburg.

Stone and his ex-wife had reportedly been clashing over custody of their daughters and other matters for some time. Hill’s neighbors said she feared Stone and had predicted he would try to kill her.

Stone’s death ends a massive manhunt that involved a half-dozen regional police SWAT teams, Pennsylvania State Police and FBI and ATF agents. Stone was believed to have access to guns and knives. Authorities said they had recovered his car and cellphone and did not know how he was traveling.