Doctor found shot dead in lake was expecting baby with fiancee he proposed to before vanishing, report says

Your support helps us to tell the story

Support Now

Find out moreClose

Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.

Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.

Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.

Louise Thomas

Editor

A Missouri doctor found dead from a gunshot wound in an Arkansas lake was expecting a baby with the fiancee he proposed to three days before disappearing.

Dr John Forsyth, 49, disappeared on 21 May after a shift at a hospital in the Ozarks just days after proposing to his fiancee. His body showed up nine days later in Beaver Lake in Arkansas.

A kayaker found the body of the father of seven in Benton County, the county sheriff’s department said.

His fiancee, who is a nurse he worked with, is eight months pregnant with the couple’s first child, a source told Fox News Digital.

The family says that Forsyth had reached a divorce settlement with his wife on 11 May that paid her $19,000 per month in alimony and child support, but stated that the couple, who shared seven children, had an amicable relationship after their split.

Forsyth’s vehicle was found unlocked with his wallet, two phones, a laptop and other items inside, his family have said. Police have said that there were no signs of foul play.

He had finished his 12-hour shift at Mercy Hospital in Cassville and texted his fiancee at 7am telling her that he would see her in “a little bit”, before he stopped responding, say police.

Just minutes later at around 7.15am, Forsyth was captured on surveillance footage driving his second vehicle – a Black Infiniti – into the parking lot of Cassville Aquatic Park.

A white SUV was then captured pulling up close to the vehicle a few minutes later, his family say. The SUV drove away a few minutes later before Forsyth was seen on the footage getting out of his vehicle around 10 to 15 minutes later and walking around.

The alarm was raised later that day when Forsyth failed to show up for his next shift at the hospital. In the 15 years he had worked at Mercy Hospital, the dedicated doctor had never missed a single shift. Forsyth’s family also say they have been kept “in the dark” over a statement from law enforcement investigating the death.

“The Missouri state police told us, ‘We know more than you think we do,’” Forsyth’s brother Richard Forsyth told Fox News Digital. “We are mad we are being kept so in the dark.”

He has previously stated that his brother had previously been “kidnapped” and told them he “might be in danger.”