Missouri doctor found shot to death in Lake Ozark had been kidnapped before, brother claims

The brother of a Missouri doctor who was found shot to death in an Ozarks lake this week has said he was the victim of a mysterious previous kidnapping attempt that may have been “crypto-related.”

Dr. John Forsyth, 49, was found dead Tuesday of a gunshot wound in Beaver Lake in northeastern Arkansas, nine days after he was last seen alive leaving work at a hospital in Cassville, Missouri, police said.

In a terse statement, the Benton County Sheriff’s Department did not say where on Forsyth’s body the gunshot wound was located, or whether he appeared to have self-inflicted, leaving many unanswered questions in the case.

Forsyth, a father of eight, had just finalized his divorce from his wife on May 11 and proposed to his new fiancée three days before he was last seen alive on May 21.

In an unusual twist, Forsyth’s brother Richard told DailyMail.com that just over a year ago, the doctor was kidnapped and threatened by unidentified individuals.

Forsyth’s body was discovered about 20 miles away from the town where he was last seen alive and where his car was found unlocked and abandoned.

Richard, who co-founded crypto company OnFo with his brother, said in a short phone interview that John Forsyth was kidnapped in February 2022 and then released, but never reported to the police.

Richard said he first learned about the kidnapping through a mutual friend, who only came forward to describe the incident to the family after John went missing earlier this month.

The brother said he believed the kidnapping was “crypto-related” but knew nothing else about the perpetrators from the mutual friend’s account, who wished to remain anonymous due to ongoing security concerns.

Richard cautioned there was no evidence yet to link the 2022 incident to John’s death, but added: “It stands out very strongly in the tables of facts that have emerged on the case.”

‘It was cold. He was tied up. He felt very unsafe and was taken on a car ride to a bridge with a few people and threatened,” Richard said Fox News digitalwho was the first to report the alleged kidnapping.

“He didn’t report it to the police because he thought he was in constant danger,” the brother added.

Messages left with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol were not immediately returned.

Authorities said Wednesday they are still investigating what happened in the week between Forsyth’s disappearance and the discovery of his body.

No more information would be immediately available, authorities said.

A kayaker found Forsyth’s body Tuesday afternoon in Beaver Lake, a large reservoir in Arkansas, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office said.

Forsyth was last seen alive on May 21 as he left Mercy Cassville Hospital, where he worked in the emergency room. He was reported missing later that same day

The doctor’s unlocked car was found in this dump near a park in Cassville, the Missouri Ozarks town where he worked, with his wallet, two phones, a laptop and other items inside

A kayaker found Forsyth’s body Tuesday afternoon near this area of ​​Beaver Lake, a large reservoir in Arkansas, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office said.

The body was found near the shore across from the Lost Bridge South area of ​​Beaver Lake, about 20 miles south of Cassville, police said.

Forsyth was last seen alive on May 21 as he left Mercy Cassville Hospital, where he worked in the emergency room. He was reported missing later the same day when he failed to show up for a service.

The doctor’s unlocked car was found near a water park in Cassville, the Missouri Ozarks town where he worked, with his wallet, two phones, a laptop and other items inside, his brother Richard Forsyth said in an interview with Associated Press.

Police told the family there were no signs of foul play around the car, a black Infiniti sedan.

Forsyth was staying in a luxury motorhome near the hospital when he was on duty, and a search of the motorhome revealed it to be unlocked, with two cell phones inside, which Richard told the Daily Beast was “very unusual.”

“It doesn’t look like anyone who left with a plan,” Richard said Tuesday, before his brother’s body was discovered.

Richard also told the outlet that security footage showed his brother’s Infiniti entering the water park, when a white SUV arrives and parks next to him.

“It leaves a few minutes later and [John] is seen walking around for maybe 10 to 15 minutes afterwards,” Richard told police. “And then he walks away from his car.”

Dr. John Forsyth (pictured), who disappeared just three days after proposing to his girlfriend in Missouri, has been found dead in Arkansas

The last person to hear from John (pictured), who launched a cryptocurrency with his brother, is said to have been his fiancée

After the doctor’s abandoned vehicle was found, several law enforcement agencies searched about a nine-mile radius around the water park using humans, dogs and drones.

Forsyth’s family has also set up a Facebook page in a desperate search for information.

“My brother has been missing for a week now,” his sister, Tiffany Andelin, wrote Monday. “I’m grieving, I’m scared, and it feels like the world has turned into pure chaos.”

The last known person to communicate with John Forsyth was the woman he recently became engaged to, who texted him around 7 a.m. on May 21, his brother told the AP.

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

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

John Forsyth had worked at Mercy Hospital for about 15 years, said his brother, who described him as a loving father, part-time math nerd and dedicated physician.

“He really cared about his patients,” said Richard Forsyth. “And he loved his children.”