Found Deceased MO - John Forsyth, 49, doctor, Mercy ER Clinic, Cassville, 21 May 2023 *car found*

[Vresia]

Has anyone found a plausible explanation for Dr. Forsyth leaving his RV unlocked and his car & RV keys, 2 cell phones, wallet, passport, driver’s license & briefcase in his unlocked car that isn't suicide? I can't. Were he planning to return to his life, neither vehicle would have been unlocked. He was reportedly logical- he wouldn't risk losing all these things that are critical to his daily life and a costly pain to replace.

If Dr Forsyth was planning to start a new life, with a new identity, investigators will find evidence of this. Undertaking such a thing requires a ton of money and planning. If changing his identity was his intention (and a person helping him ended up killing him), I think we would have heard hints of this from law enforcement or family/ friends by now; some money/ planning clues would have been uncovered in all their searching over the past 10 days.

I have never heard of a person committing suicide by gun while in a body of water but, I think it is a great idea for someone wishing to kill themself. Considerate and clever in not leaving a scene. In something as large as Beaver Lake, the body would most likely drift far from where the gun drops.

I cannot reconcile how Dr Forsyth ended up in Beaver Lake. Perhaps he had a rental car or a junk car somehow stashed on rte 112, a short walk from the Cassville Aquatic Center.

 

[Ed Teach]

I would love to know what LE thinks about the brother being so free with his information in the interviews.

I would imagine LE is looking at every angle. JF's body is being examined in Little Rock and once that information is released we'll know a lot more about transpired.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Has anyone found a plausible explanation for Dr. Forsyth leaving his RV unlocked and his car & RV keys, 2 cell phones, wallet, passport, driver’s license & briefcase in his unlocked car that isn't suicide? I can't. Were he planning to return to his life, neither vehicle would have been unlocked. He was reportedly logical- he wouldn't risk losing all these things that are critical to his daily life and a costly pain to replace.

If Dr Forsyth was planning to start a new life, with a new identity, investigators will find evidence of this. Undertaking such a thing requires a ton of money and planning. If changing his identity was his intention (and a person helping him ended up killing him), I think we would have heard hints of this from law enforcement or family/ friends by now; some money/ planning clues would have been uncovered in all their searching over the past 10 days.

I have never heard of a person committing suicide by gun while in a body of water but, I think it is a great idea for someone wishing to kill themself. Considerate and clever in not leaving a scene. In something as large as Beaver Lake, the body would most likely drift far from where the gun drops.

I cannot reconcile how Dr Forsyth ended up in Beaver Lake. Perhaps he had a rental car or a junk car somehow stashed on rte 112, a short walk from the Cassville Aquatic Center.

Everything unlocked is such a flag. I keep wondering, if abductor threatened his family, and forced him to keep all unlocked (to look like suicide), he still would have found a way to message. I think LE is just letting the well spoken brother ramble, because he knows so little.

We must hear from LE. About the white car, ?? Blue van with darkened windows-mentioned once, and IF they actually have mentioned homicide.

 

[Curiousobserver]

Has anyone found a plausible explanation for Dr. Forsyth leaving his RV unlocked and his car & RV keys, 2 cell phones, wallet, passport, driver’s license & briefcase in his unlocked car that isn't suicide? I can't. Were he planning to return to his life, neither vehicle would have been unlocked. He was reportedly logical- he wouldn't risk losing all these things that are critical to his daily life and a costly pain to replace.

If Dr Forsyth was planning to start a new life, with a new identity, investigators will find evidence of this. Undertaking such a thing requires a ton of money and planning. If changing his identity was his intention (and a person helping him ended up killing him), I think we would have heard hints of this from law enforcement or family/ friends by now; some money/ planning clues would have been uncovered in all their searching over the past 10 days.

I have never heard of a person committing suicide by gun while in a body of water but, I think it is a great idea for someone wishing to kill themself. Considerate and clever in not leaving a scene. In something as large as Beaver Lake, the body would most likely drift far from where the gun drops.

I cannot reconcile how Dr Forsyth ended up in Beaver Lake. Perhaps he had a rental car or a junk car somehow stashed on rte 112, a short walk from the Cassville Aquatic Center.

Seems unlikely but he could have walked from his car to the lake- its about 8 hours.

We have seen some pretty unlikely things on these threads so I can't say I would be shocked.

 

[bestill]

Did LE confirm what was left behind and that everything was unlocked? I see that it's on the flyer the family created but not on the one from Cassville.

 

[Vresia]

I think LE is just letting the well spoken brother ramble, because he knows so little.

We must hear from LE. About the white car, ?? Blue van with darkened windows-mentioned once, and IF they actually have mentioned homicide.

I agree 100% about LE letting the brother ramble. As long as it doesn't interfere with their work, it is a kindness to the family to let them publicly speculate as they struggle to understand what has happened. I have not seen LE references to this as a homicide investigation. Only the brother has said this, all other descriptions call it a "death investigation".

I'm also curious about the white SUV. I hope we get more details soon. It's impossible to tell if this was just a random SUV that was briefly beside Dr Forsyth's car or if it was more meaningful. I haven't read about the blue van but I haven't read everything on this case.

 

[Teche]

I can’t remember following a case on WS where the individual left behind phones, wallet, passport, and house and vehicle unlocked where it wasn’t to start a new life or suicide.

I have not read anything regarding a blue van.

 

[gliving]

MOO Unusual choice to use a gun for self-harm when he had access to drugs.

 

[Vresia]

Did LE confirm what was left behind and that everything was unlocked? I see that it's on the flyer the family created but not on the one from Cassville.

View attachment 425919

Search party formed for missing Mercy doctor - Cassville Democrat

A physician at Mercy Hospital is considered missing after not arriving for a shift in Cassville on Sunday and police finding his vehicle abandoned. John Forsyth, 49, of Republic, is 5-11 and 180 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes, possibly wearing a black shirt and blue/gray pants. He was last...

www.cassville-democrat.com

I've seen a number of different reporters state that the car was unlocked. At least a few reporters had spoken directly with LE and weren't just quoting another source. While I didn't find any direct quotes of LE stating the car was unlocked, this Cassville-Democrat reporter spoke with a couple of LE early on and said car was unlocked.

"Forsyth’s vehicle was found inside the yard waste fencing at the park’s south end, partially visible inside the gated entrance. The vehicle was unlocked and the keys were inside.

"Sgt. Donnie Privett, with the Cassville Police Department, said a cell phone with a cracked screen was located in the vehicle, and two additional cell phones were recovered at Forsyth’s motor home parked at Mercy Cassville. A laptop was also recovered, and Cassville Police are running forensics on all devices."

I did not remember that a laptop was found in the car. And I hadn't previously read that only 1 cell (with cracked screen) was found in the car, with the other 2 cells being found in the RV.

 

[?!?]

Has anyone found a plausible explanation for Dr. Forsyth leaving his RV unlocked and his car & RV keys, 2 cell phones, wallet, passport, driver’s license & briefcase in his unlocked car that isn't suicide? I can't. Were he planning to return to his life, neither vehicle would have been unlocked. He was reportedly logical- he wouldn't risk losing all these things that are critical to his daily life and a costly pain to replace.

If Dr Forsyth was planning to start a new life, with a new identity, investigators will find evidence of this. Undertaking such a thing requires a ton of money and planning. If changing his identity was his intention (and a person helping him ended up killing him), I think we would have heard hints of this from law enforcement or family/ friends by now; some money/ planning clues would have been uncovered in all their searching over the past 10 days.

I have never heard of a person committing suicide by gun while in a body of water but, I think it is a great idea for someone wishing to kill themself. Considerate and clever in not leaving a scene. In something as large as Beaver Lake, the body would most likely drift far from where the gun drops.

I cannot reconcile how Dr Forsyth ended up in Beaver Lake. Perhaps he had a rental car or a junk car somehow stashed on rte 112, a short walk from the Cassville Aquatic Center.

With the 'fuzzy' video and other unknowns (all his various business interests and associated threats) notwithstanding, it seems the following are POSSIBLE (IMO):
He was going to meet with someone presumedly for one of the following --
Turn himself in to a drug rehab program ("leave your stuff so one of our people can put it in safekeeping for you") and not want 'anyone' to know;
Turn himself in to some authority to avoid being arrested/charged for some offense (medical or crypto);
Go underground - leave the country, go homeless, or use new ID to be provided ("bring cash") by person he is meeting;
Told to bring cash to pay off a debt or his loved ones would be harmed....

...but it was all a setup, and whether cash was involved or not he was suddenly grabbed....

YMMV

 

[otto]

Exploring routes from the Aquatic Center to the area where the body was located
Map

 

[Vresia]

With the 'fuzzy' video and other unknowns (all his various business interests and associated threats) notwithstanding, it seems the following are POSSIBLE (IMO):
He was going to meet with someone presumedly for one of the following --
Turn himself in to a drug rehab program ("leave your stuff so one of our people can put it in safekeeping for you") and not want 'anyone' to know;
Turn himself in to some authority to avoid being arrested/charged for some offense (medical or crypto);
Go underground - leave the country, go homeless, or use new ID to be provided ("bring cash") by person he is meeting;
Told to bring cash to pay off a debt or his loved ones would be harmed....

...but it was all a setup, and whether cash was involved or not he was suddenly grabbed....

YMMV

I appreciate your set-up scenarios but they don't strike me as being as likely as suicide. With the exception of going underground, there's no reason to bring all of his important stuff or to leave the RV unlocked. We will find out if he was going underground soon enough- there would have to be evidence of this no matter how careful he was.

 

[Lexiintoronto]

Has anyone found a plausible explanation for Dr. Forsyth leaving his RV unlocked and his car & RV keys, 2 cell phones, wallet, passport, driver’s license & briefcase in his unlocked car that isn't suicide? I can't. Were he planning to return to his life, neither vehicle would have been unlocked. He was reportedly logical- he wouldn't risk losing all these things that are critical to his daily life and a costly pain to replace.

If Dr Forsyth was planning to start a new life, with a new identity, investigators will find evidence of this. Undertaking such a thing requires a ton of money and planning. If changing his identity was his intention (and a person helping him ended up killing him), I think we would have heard hints of this from law enforcement or family/ friends by now; some money/ planning clues would have been uncovered in all their searching over the past 10 days.

I have never heard of a person committing suicide by gun while in a body of water but, I think it is a great idea for someone wishing to kill themself. Considerate and clever in not leaving a scene. In something as large as Beaver Lake, the body would most likely drift far from where the gun drops.

I cannot reconcile how Dr Forsyth ended up in Beaver Lake. Perhaps he had a rental car or a junk car somehow stashed on rte 112, a short walk from the Cassville Aquatic Center.

There have been reported suicides that were made to look like murder. One strange case:

In February, police entertained the idea that Abrahamson's death might have been a suicide. The working theory became: He tied a gun to a string, attached it to the weather balloon, and once the shot was fired, the balloon carried the weapon away from the scene.

 

[gliving]

John invested in crypto funds. I am not a crypto investor so this is my very basic understanding of the funds. If there are any crypto-knowledgeable readers here, please feel free to correct or add to this.

Crypto funds are purchased and can then be stored in a off-line cloud. In order to access your crypto funds, you need the key. A key is a series of numbers kind of like a secret code. Each bit has it's own key. So if you have 10 bits, you need 10 keys.

When a crypto owner dies, the asset goes through probate since it's considered an asset. Whoever inherits the crypto also needs to the keys to unlock the funds. If the inheritor doesn't have the key, the funds remain locked up for eternity. The inheritor will never get any financial gain from their inheritance.

My question is, who had/has access to John's keys? MOO Thinking of this as a possible motive to murder.

When You Die, What Happens to Your Bitcoin?

Without your private key, your heirs are locked out of your digital wallet. Being prepared, though, ensures they can gain access to your assets when the time comes.

www.kiplinger.com

Cryptocurrency is stored using a virtual wallet, and a private key is needed to open it. This private key is a string of random characters, essentially the password that gains access to the wallet contents. This is like a physical key to open a safe-deposit box. Of course, a bank can eventually access a safe-deposit box if the physical key is lost, but that is not true of a wallet with a missing virtual key.

Zimmerman explains, "If you die without leaving anyone the details of your private key, your cryptocurrency will become nearly impossible for your loved ones to access." While numbers are not available readily for many cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin estimates that approximately 4 million Bitcoins have been lost due to the deaths of owners and missing private keys. That is more than $240 billion today.

 

[bestill]

John invested in crypto funds. I am not a crypto investor so this is my very basic understanding of the funds. If there are any crypto-knowledgeable readers here, please feel free to correct or add to this.

Crypto funds are purchased and can then be stored in a off-line cloud. In order to access your crypto funds, you need the key. A key is a series of numbers kind of like a secret code. Each bit has it's own key. So if you have 10 bits, you need 10 keys.

When a crypto owner dies, the asset goes through probate since it's considered an asset. Whoever inherits the crypto also needs to the keys to unlock the funds. If the inheritor doesn't have the key, the funds remain locked up for eternity. The inheritor will never get any financial gain from their inheritance.

My question is, who had/has access to John's keys? MOO Thinking of this as a possible motive to murder.

When You Die, What Happens to Your Bitcoin?

Without your private key, your heirs are locked out of your digital wallet. Being prepared, though, ensures they can gain access to your assets when the time comes.

www.kiplinger.com

Cryptocurrency is stored using a virtual wallet, and a private key is needed to open it. This private key is a string of random characters, essentially the password that gains access to the wallet contents. This is like a physical key to open a safe-deposit box. Of course, a bank can eventually access a safe-deposit box if the physical key is lost, but that is not true of a wallet with a missing virtual key.

Zimmerman explains, "If you die without leaving anyone the details of your private key, your cryptocurrency will become nearly impossible for your loved ones to access." While numbers are not available readily for many cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin estimates that approximately 4 million Bitcoins have been lost due to the deaths of owners and missing private keys. That is more than $240 billion today.

This is fascinating. A real twist when you think about all that was going on in his life. Newly divorced, newly engaged (which surprised the family, according to one brother), in business with family, supposed business related connection threatening from abroad...hmmm, all JMO.

 

[charminglane]

Just bc it's not posted in words on WS does not mean it's not in MSM.

There were three viable tips:

"The final tip revolved around the aquatic center’s parking lot, where a woman claimed to have seen a blue van with tinted windows driving back and forth around the area where police found Forsyth’s car."

Missing ER doctor John Forsyth may have been seen at hiking trail, fish hatchery: kin

A weapon could be thrown into the fish hatchery ponds easily.

 

[Marie A]

Has anyone found a plausible explanation for Dr. Forsyth leaving his RV unlocked and his car & RV keys, 2 cell phones, wallet, passport, driver’s license & briefcase in his unlocked car that isn't suicide? I can't. Were he planning to return to his life, neither vehicle would have been unlocked. He was reportedly logical- he wouldn't risk losing all these things that are critical to his daily life and a costly pain to replace.

If Dr Forsyth was planning to start a new life, with a new identity, investigators will find evidence of this. Undertaking such a thing requires a ton of money and planning. If changing his identity was his intention (and a person helping him ended up killing him), I think we would have heard hints of this from law enforcement or family/ friends by now; some money/ planning clues would have been uncovered in all their searching over the past 10 days.

I have never heard of a person committing suicide by gun while in a body of water but, I think it is a great idea for someone wishing to kill themself. Considerate and clever in not leaving a scene. In something as large as Beaver Lake, the body would most likely drift far from where the gun drops.

I cannot reconcile how Dr Forsyth ended up in Beaver Lake. Perhaps he had a rental car or a junk car somehow stashed on rte 112, a short walk from the Cassville Aquatic Center.

Agreed - no plausible explanation that does not point to suicide IMHO.
re- ending up in Beaver Lake….
Several car / taxi services are readily available in the general area. One in Cassville and many surrounding. Easy enough to get a burner phone and pre-paid credit card and arrange a “harder to trace” pick up under a fake name if JRF wanted to be mysto. Uber and Lyft available too.
Perfectly beautiful walking weather on 5/21/23- started in mid 50s that morning with high of 73, no rain. A long & very intentional walk wouldn’t surprise me either. Getting a gun in this area is the easiest thing in the world too. Check records at Academy Sports- my friend ordered one there before he shot himself.

Suicide never makes sense- a loved one‘s dad shot himself when he was due to visit her and meet her new baby girl (his first granddaughter)
Despair, pressure, guilt- no telling what goes on in other people’s brains. “ So much to live for” and “happier than he’s been” doesn’t mean much when you decide to end it.

<modsnip: not victim friendly>

All IMHO

 

[Teche]

if the kidnapping incident occurred as reported to Richard, why didn’t he share this information with his brother/business partner and take steps to protect his children’s safety?
Does his brother have the crypto key?

 

[Tealgrove]

Honestly, I’m following the money on this one.

Who would benefit financially if JF were dead?

Did someone place insurance on JF in the last little while?

Did he change his will or was he about to change his will? Was someone angry about that or felt he needed to be prevented from making any changes? Who would benefit if it remained as is upon his death?

Family insists money wasn’t an issue but there have been many occasions when what people think is not reality. Maybe he was in financial trouble.

Did he owe someone money?

The cryptocurrency business is such a big red flag to me.

This earlier kidnapping is bizarre. Not sure what to make of it.

A professional hit?

MOO

 

[InterpolARBEAR]

I'm so sad for his children and extended family, not at all how I thought this case would turn out.

I have to share something odd. I rarely comment on threads and don't read as much on websleuths because I'm busy between work and kids but this one somehow caught my attention and I commented on Monday morning.

I have never been to Arkansas or heard of Beaver Lake until last weekend friends of ours invited us to go there with them later this summer and we agreed and on Sunday night booked an airbnb in Lost Bridge Village! Weird!

I have a lot of suspicions about the alleged kidnapping last year. First of all, "someone" told Richard, yet Richard, who was his partner in the crypto biz, knew nothing about it. There was no police report filed, no personal security measures for Dr. F were taken, it was common knowledge he used the RV at the hosptial. And the Dr just what? Got over it? Carried on like it never happened?

Please note, I am not at all doubting what Richard has said he was told. My doubt is with whoever told him this. I think it's pure fiction and may be worthwhile to question that person about how they knew about it, since Dr. F didn't even confide in his own brother who happens to be his business partner.

MOO

Very good point.