Deceased/Not Found TN - Dr. William Coltharp, 55, Center Hill Lake, 2 Oct 2011

The doctor vanished Oct. 2 while kayaking on Center Hill Lake. Latest reports-The kayak was found with life preserver and laptop computer. Witnesses say the Doctor was seen loading a cinder block into his boat before launch. A deep lake 190 feet and large at 18,000 acres has officials still listed the Doctor as 'missing'. The laptop computer is undergoing a forensic examination.

Interesting

Any other information would be helpful.

sp

Maybe there is a suicide note on the laptop left in the boat. Sounds like a suicide to me.

Who takes a laptop in a kayak? did I read that correctly? Perhaps the cinder block was meant to sink the laptop - and the gentleman fell in instead? Maybe?

Also-If this turns out to be what is suspected forensic marine experts say his body will never be found. The depth of the lake along with low temperatures and pressure at the bottom will not allow bacteria to promote gases to float the body. Does anyone have knowledge of a similar case?

Any thoughts?

sp

spooky24 said:

Also-If this turns out to be what is suspected forensic marine experts say his body will never be found. The depth of the lake along with low temperatures and pressure at the bottom will not allow bacteria to promote gases to float the body. Does anyone have knowledge of a similar case?

Any thoughts?

sp

Click to expand...

Would a doctor know this??? What kind of physician was he?

Looks like he is a thoracic surgeon.

http://www.wtva.com/mostpopular/sto...p-from-New-Albany/NIm5z0Dad0ytQlvuZm8mXQ.cspx

"a worker cleaning up the park found a handgun holder that has been identified as belonging to Dr. Coltharp."

This really does sound like a suicide to me...

Moving to Discussion forum

Has there been anymore news about this doctor?

Missing doctor's wife files in probate court

The search for a missing Nashville surgeon in DeKalb County has long ended, and now a court document shows his wife holds out little hope for his return.

[snip]

DeKalb County Sheriff Patrick Ray said the search has been called off, but they’re not giving up hope he might be alive.

“The doctor is still listed as a missing person,” Ray said.

But according to documents filed in Davidson County’s probate court, Coltharp’s wife isn’t as optimistic.

“He is believed to have died on Center Hill Lake, but his remains have not yet been found,” reads a line in paperwork Nicole Coltharp filed to begin dealing with more than $120,000 associated with her husband’s estate. She’s asking a conservator be appointed on his behalf.

More: http://www.tennessean.com/article/2...080/Missing-doctor-s-wife-files-probate-court

http://www.wsmv.com/story/16565943/missing-nashville-heart-surgeon-sued-by-family-of-patient

Posted: Jan 20, 2012 3:30 PM EST
Updated: Jan 20, 2012 3:34 PM EST
Posted by Kevin Young

Short article at link

Conservator for missing doc sued for med mal

[snip]

Relatives of Robert Evans first sued Drs. William Coltharp and Mark Aaron as well as Cardiovascular Surgery Associates and a number of entities affiliated with Saint Thomas Health Services last fall. That case was filed a few a few months after Coltharp was last seen paddling a canoe on Center Hill Lake. Following the appointment by Probate Court Judge Randy Kennedy in late 2011 of estate and probate attorney Gail S. Bradford of Harris Martin Jones, the Evans family can now move forward with its case against Calthorp.

"That’s what this complaint filed May 8 in Davidson County Circuit Court is about," said Randy Kinnard, attorney with the Kinnard Clayton & Beveridge law firm in Nashville. “We followed the law in getting Dr. Coltharp served the first time but we were unable, just like everybody else, to locate him.”

More: http://nashvillepost.com/news/2012/5/17/conservator_for_missing_doc_sued_for_med_mal

From October 2012.


One Year After His Disappearance, Dr. William Coltharp Still Missing

Its been a full year since a Nashville surgeon went missing while kayaking on Center Hill Lake.

The disappearance of 55 year old Dr. William Coltharp, who was last seen on October 2, 2011 is still considered a "missing person" case and no foul play is suspected at this time, according to Sheriff Patrick Ray.

[snip]

Meanwhile, the family of Dr. Coltharp is offering a reward of $10,000 for the recovery of any body-remains, clothing, and or personal effects of Dr. Coltharp who is believed to be deceased.

More: http://www.wjle.com/news/2012/one-year-after-his-disappearance-dr-william-coltharp-still-missing

http://www.wjle.com/news/2013/body-found-floating-center-hill-lake-0

There has been a badly decomposed body found in this lake. The doctor was the first person I thought of when I read this. Though I did not realize it had been 2 years since he disappeared. Would there be much remains to float after that length of time?

TC

I STILL want to know why someone would take a laptop out in a kayak........

I always assumed he had something on it he didn't want seen. I wondered if he faked his own death at the time. But I don't know if anyone does that in real life. I live in this area so kept up with the story. This leads me to my original question, if anyone knows the answer....would a body submerged in a lake for two years have the where with all to float to the surface if it became dislodged?

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Excuse me, just remembered they actually found the laptop. That is weird. I was just looking at some stories about this again. There isn't much out there.

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amandab said:

http://www.wtva.com/mostpopular/sto...p-from-New-Albany/NIm5z0Dad0ytQlvuZm8mXQ.cspx

"a worker cleaning up the park found a handgun holder that has been identified as belonging to Dr. Coltharp."

This really does sound like a suicide to me...

Click to expand...

I missed this when it happened.

What an odd case.

It absolutely seems like suicide BUT what is with the overkill of having both a handgun AND a cement block?

It clearly isn't that he didn't want to be found...he left something with hordes of identifying information basically 'in plain sight' (the laptop in the kayak)

So if he really just wanted to die, why not just shoot himself?

Who cares if his body sunk? Dead is dead and all not having the body 'accessible' does is prolong the grief of his loved ones who probably would like to give him a proper burial.

Or why not just weight his body down and drown? Again, dead is dead...

Did he shoot himself on the side of the kayak with the brick attached to himself so he'd fall in after he died and then sink? But then what's to say his body couldn't have fallen backward into the kayak upon shooting himself, thus defeating the brick issue.

Or did he mean to attach the block to his laptop to 'drown' that too?

It's very odd he had the laptop so visible.

Seems like it'd have to have been for something other than a suicide note, because what's to say it might not have gotten wet at some point if it were a while before it was found? Thus ruining the data. Or that it couldn't have been stolen, again, losing the note.

If he was aware about the possibility of a lawsuit being filed, did he have info possibly related to the case there and he wanted to be sure it was found (for some reason?)? But that seems odd too...b/c LE would end up with it, even if someone else (family or whatever) managed to get it first...

Really, really strange. I wonder if this is his body if more information will come out (like about the laptop's contents)

Strange

Travelingbug, all very good points and interesting thoughts. Maybe that's why my mind went to faking his death. But who knows the state of mind of someone who is intent on killing themselves. I'm very interested in finding out whose body this is. It is a very, very big and deep lake. People occasionally drown in it, but all cases I've heard of recently the bodies were recovered. If it isn't Coltharp it will be interesting nonetheless.

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