TN TN - Philip Joshua Johnson, 37, vehicle found Nov 6 Brule River State Forest in WI, missing from Nashville, 18 Oct 2023

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Douglas County and WI DNR authorities are searching for a missing man in Douglas County.

Philip Joshua Johnson, 37, was reported missing to the Nashville, TN Metro Police Department on October 18.

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A vehicle linked to him was reported abandoned in the Brule River State Forest on a trail off of Brackett’s Corner Round on or about November 6.

However, local hunters in the area stated the vehicle may have been there since October 23.

Authorities say a search of the area was conducted on November 7, but found no signs of Johnson.

A dog team will also search on Thursday to cover more of the area.

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The site is just off Wisconsin Highway 13, near Lake Superior, about 20 miles east of Superior.

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Anyone with information about a white PT Cruiser with temporary Tennessee license plates or on the whereabouts of Philip Joshua Johnson is urged to contact the Douglas County Sheriff's Office at 715-395-1230.


Hannah Johnson, Philip's wife, said in a Facebook post her husband's disappearance is "completely sudden and unexpected." They have four children together.

"He was having some struggles before going missing so he needs some help. He may be going by a different name," Hannah said.
 
What worries me is the area in which the vehicle was found. I've been given a PT cruiser too many times as a rental, they are not just low to the ground but they are REALLY underpowered (I always figured if my brakes failed I could just turn on the ac and the power draw with be so much for that particular vehicle it would immediately coast to a stop). I can't imagine, if he's had the vehicle long he'd think that particular pathway was suitable to drive on. That leaves the chance that the vehicle was stolen and just left there, or he got lost, got stuck and went out on foot. I do hope he is found - his wife and children have to be so worried.
 
We went today to where his PT cruiser was found and we did a search on foot in the area. I have so much info. I’m going to split it into multiple posts.

The spot he parked was very close to State Hwy 13. There’s about 20 ft of gravel at the start of the “trail” he was on, so his vehicle was literally just barely off the gravel. However, there’s a beaver dam there which created all the water you see in the original photo showing his vehicle. It’s not passable and as a truck owner, driving a PT Cruiser, he likely knew that (IMO). Attached is my photo showing how close he was to gravel, taken from the gravel road just off Hwy 13.IMG_6927.jpegI think he was done with that vehicle. Also, that trail does not lead anywhere. From that spot you can heard the Lake Superior waves crashing on shore and it’s like a siren call. IF he drove all that way, it would be hard to resist walking a few minutes further to look at the lake. Why didn’t he drive further down the gravel road to the parking area immediately next to the lake? Well, possibly there was a tree across the road at the time blocking his way. One has recently been cut with a chainsaw and dragged off the road. Who knows the exact date, but could’ve stopped him from driving a bit further so he went back a bit to either park or find a route around maybe? Here’s a map showing where he parked, and where the tree was across the road. Red is where the cruiser was found, the yellow scratches are approximately where the tree may have been across the road.
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Why was he there? I dug into Facebook posts by his spouse, and others. They mention that he was paranoid that people were after him, that he may have parked to hike to Canada, may have switched vehicles again, may be using a different name, may be headed to Montana. The Brule location is off the route to Canada or Montana. It’s remote, no way to switch vehicles without another person involved. It’s not close enough to Canada to reasonably hike to. Was he there to kill himself? I haven’t found any mention of that concern, but it seems like a possibility given the remote and picturesque area. We went searching with that in mind though, thinking that on a hillside overlooking the lake would be feasible scenario. We went along the path to the shoreline and headed east first. The first thing we saw of interest was MANY fresh wolf tracks in the sand. I wear a large size gloves for comparison!IMG_6922.jpeg
We walked both along the sand, and up on the hillside for quite a ways. We only found one ice fishing neoprene glove, which likely floated in with the waves. However, we did see recent clay mudslides. Many that clearly happened since the grass died this fall. Was his body covered up by one? its a possibility.IMG_6917.jpeg
 
There wasn’t much else of note to the east. So we turned around and went west from the path. Very soon, there was a creek that was a bit too wide / deep to cross so we didn’t search further west. We threw a stick into the lake to test the flow. It did slightly veer westerly, so potentially a person in the water would float that way slightly. But in general, there’s a saying that Lake Superior doesn’t give up her dead. There’s science of decomposition behind that so it tends to be true. We then headed from the actual parking lot (Bracketts corner day use area green marker) across land to the “trail” he parked on. We went both ways on it and saw nothing but a folding chair that someone probably hunted from. Yellow is the approximate search areas we did.
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Conclusions from the day:
If he went to Lake Superior to kill himself, he’s either in the water, or under a clay mudslide. We think wolf predation would have left an area of evidence.
If he dumped the vehicle there to throw people off his trail, it would require another person to have picked him up. Last I read, they were still looking for his original work truck. Was someone else driving the PT Cruiser or the truck? If you want people to think you are in Canada, that’s not the place to leave the vehicle.
 
Hey everyone,

Just a reminder that family members and other loved ones may be reading on the board at any time. Websleuths is not an easy place for them to be. It's okay to discuss clinically and factually, but please keep crass or insensitive comments off the board.

Thanks for helping Websleuths classy.

Sillybilly
WS Administrator
 
Another article
“Johnson was a frequent presence at neighborhood music establishments, noted for his emotional words and soulful tunes. Along with being a committed family man, he had been married to Hannah since 2007 and they had four kids together. Johnson was last seen, according to official reports, on March 12th, following a performance at a pub in Nashville.”
Are you Speaking of the Philip Johnson from TN because if you are he was not a musician wrong guy though right wife. He operated a window cleaning buisness with his wife Hannah called Camelot
 
you for looking into this, guys.

I'm a family member.
Unfortunately, there have still been no signs of him. There were no signs of suicidality, but severe persecutory delusions- believing friends and family were part of a satanic cult, and eventually that his wife was poisoning him. No diagnosis was made, but the behaviors were consistent with paranoid schizophrenia. Both his parents, his father in law, then finally his cat died in the same 18 month span and he just came apart.

He had sold the work truck he left in to buy this one.
He left $3,000 in the car and his ID (but not his wallet).
It's unclear how much his mental health had/has deteriorated. The tragic situation would be if he simply wandered into the woods after significant deterioration. . . . . . .

But it's possible that he intentionally left the car and the items to (mostly successfully) end the search for him. In the month leading up to this he had installed a very sophisticated camera system around his property, purchased a large amount of copper to encase his phone in, and similar behaviors - suggesting an ability to strategically engage with delusions.

Someone did spot someone hitchhiking roughly matching his description around the time he went missing.
He was a skilled rappeller - being a window washer by trade, but not a rock climber. He's also very handy and physically fit. He could be squatting in a cabin somewhere or have in fact hiked to Montana (where he's from).

He really could be anywhere, unfortunately. And even if he does end up found and hospitalized or worse, he doesn't have an ID so it may not be known that he's missing.

It would really be amazing if he could be found or if there were some kind of closure though. It is a really sad situation for his wife and children. Happy 38th birthday to Philip Joshua Johnson
 

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