The suspicious death of a Missouri doctor who was a father to eight children is being investigated as a homicide, his family has said, according to NewsNation.
Dr. John Forsyth was last seen alive around 7 a.m. on May 21. He was scheduled to work at Mercy Hospital in Cassville, Missouri, but he never showed up. As CrimeOnline previously reported, Forsyth’s unlocked vehicle was later found at a community aquatic center, with his wallet, passport, checkbook, and keys inside.
Nine days after he vanished, Forsyth’s body was discovered by a kayaker in a lake in Benton County, Arkansas. The body had a gunshot wound.
As police continue to investigate Forsyth’s death, his brother Richard says he has been told by law enforcement that they are treating the case as a homicide. The family does not believe that Forsyth would have killed himself and said he did not own any guns.
“At this point, it looks like he was abducted and killed and thrown into a lake,” Richard told NewsNation. “Just looking at it from my point of view, that’s what it seems like.”
The family has described Forsyth as a doting father and that he seemed happy of late. He never missed work and would typically sleep in a recreational vehicle near the hospital while on call.
Forsyth was also engaged to be married. He was divorced twice from the same woman, but his brother and his former wife’s lawyer say the separations were amicable.
On May 10, Forsyth was ordered to pay his former wife nearly $4,000 per month in child support in addition to another $15,000 each month.
“We need to get to the bottom of this,” Richard told NewsNation. “We need to find out what happened. We’re not satisfied with just that he was found. This kind of barbaric behavior has to be uncovered. This has to be dealt with.”
Previously, Forsyth’s brother told Fox News that the doctor was kidnapped during a February 2022 incident in which he was zip-tied, driven to a bridge, and threatened. He said his brother was released, but he never filed a police report because he still feared for his safety.
Police said Forsyth stopped responding to text messages after texting his fiancée he would see her soon.
“There’s no way he killed himself,” he told Fox. “He was full of optimism. He had a great life.”
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[Featured image: John Forsyth/Cassville Police Department]
