Missing Missouri ER Doctor, John Forsyth, Found Deceased With Gunshot Injury After Proposing To His Girlfriend

Authorities reported Wednesday that a missing Missouri emergency room doctor who went missing for a week had been discovered dead in Arkansas from what seemed to be a gunshot wound, but they are still looking into what may have happened during that time.

Dr. John Forsyth, 49, was found dead in Beaver Lake on Tuesday by a kayaker, according to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office in Arkansas.

Authorities stated no other information will be made available right away and they would not say whether he had been shot by someone else or had shot himself.

According to his brother Richard Forsyth, the doctor’s unlocked car, which had his wallet, two phones, a laptop, and other belongings, was discovered Sunday near an aquatic park in Cassville, the Missouri Ozarks town where he worked.

Authorities in Arkansas said that the body was located around 20 miles (32 kilometers) distant.

According to his brother, John Forsyth’s black Infiniti can be seen arriving into the parking lot on surveillance footage from the water park, and a white SUV can be seen parking close to him a short while later.

“We’re devastated, especially at the nature of his passing,” Richard Forsyth said, adding that authorities haven’t given them more details about the investigation.

The last time the two brothers met in person was at dinner on Wednesday, May 17.

“I told him this is the happiest I’d seen him in a long time. His divorce was final May 11, and I think that gave him energy for the future,” Richard Forsyth said.

John Forsyth had recently gotten engaged to be married, his brother said, and his fiancée was the last known person to communicate with him, texting at around 7 a.m. on Sunday, May 21.