Missouri doctor found shot dead in Ozarks lake was previously kidnapped, claims brother

The brother of a Missouri doctor who was found shot dead in an Ozarks lake this week has claimed he was the victim of a mysterious prior kidnapping attempt. 

Dr. John Forsyth, 49, was found dead of a gunshot wound in Beaver Lake in northeast Arkansas on Tuesday, nine days after he was last seen alive leaving work at a hospital in Cassville, Missouri, police said.

In a terse statement, the Benton County Sheriff's Department did not say where upon Forsyth's body the gunshot wound was located, or whether it appeared to be self-inflicted, leaving many unanswered questions in the case.

Forsyth, a father of eight, had just finalized a divorce from his wife on May 11, and proposed marriage to his new fiancée three days before he was last seen alive on May 21.  

In an unusual twist, Forsyth's brother Richard now claims that a little over a year ago, the doctor was kidnapped and threatened by unidentified individuals.

Dr. John Forsyth, 49, was found dead of a gunshot wound in Beaver Lake in northeast Arkansas on Tuesday, nine days after he was last seen alive leaving work at a hospital in Missouri

Forsyth's body was discovered about 20 miles away from the town where he was last seen alive, and where his car was found unlocked and abandoned

Richard, who founded the crypto firm OnFo with his brother, told Fox News Digital that in February 2022, John Forsyth was kidnapped and then released, but never filed a police report.

'It was cold. He was zip-tied. He was made to feel very unsafe and taken on a car ride with some people to a bridge and was threatened,' Richard told the outlet. 

'He did not file a police report because he believed he was in continued danger,' the brother added. 

Attempts to reach Richard on Wednesday afternoon for further details were unsuccessful, and DailyMail.com was unable to independently verify his claims regarding the kidnapping. 

Messages left with the Benton County Sheriff's Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol were not immediately returned. 

Authorities said Wednesday that they're still investigating what happened in the week between Forsyth's disappearance and the discovery of his body.

No further information would immediately be available, authorities said. 

A kayaker found Forsyth's body on Tuesday afternoon in Beaver Lake, a large reservoir in Arkansas, the Benton County Sheriff's Office said. 

Forsyth was last seen alive early on May 21, as he was leaving Mercy Cassville Hospital, where he worked in the ER. He was reported missing later the same day

The doctor's unlocked car was found at this dump site near a park in Cassville, the town in the Missouri Ozarks where he worked, with his wallet, two phones, a laptop and other items inside

A kayaker found Forsyth's body on Tuesday afternoon near this area of Beaver Lake, a large reservoir in Arkansas, the Benton County Sheriff's Office said

The body was found near the bank across from the Lost Bridge South area of Beaver Lake, which is about 20 miles south of Cassville, police said. 

Forsyth was last seen alive early on May 21, as he was leaving Mercy Cassville Hospital, where he worked in the ER. He was reported missing later the same day when he failed to show up for a shift. 

The doctor's unlocked car was found near an aquatic park in Cassville, the town in the Missouri Ozarks where he worked, with his wallet, two phones, a laptop and other items inside, his brother Richard Forsyth said in an Associated Press interview. 

Police told the family there were no signs of foul play around the car, a black Infiniti sedan.

Forsyth stayed in a luxury RV near the hospital when he was on-call, and a search of the camper revealed that it was unlocked, with two cell phones left inside, which Richard told the Daily Beast was 'very uncharacteristic'. 

'It doesn't seem like a person who left with a plan,' Richard said on Tuesday, before his brother's body was discovered. 

Richard also told the outlet that security footage showed his brother's Infiniti pulling into the aquatic park, when a white SUV arrives and parks near him.

'It leaves a few minutes later and [John] is seen walking around maybe 10 to 15 minutes after that,' Richard said cops told him. 'And then he walks away from his car.'

Dr. John Forsyth (pictured), who vanished in Missouri just three days after proposing to his girlfriend, has been found dead in Arkansas

The last person to hear from John (pictured), who launched a cryptocurrency with his brother, is thought to have been his fiancée 

After the doctor's abandoned vehicle was found, several law enforcement agencies searched about a nine-mile radius around the aquatic park using people, dogs and drones. 

Forsyth's family also set up a Facebook page in a desperate search for any information.

'My brother has now been missing for week,' his sister, Tiffany Andelin, wrote Monday. 'I´m grieving, I'm afraid, and it feels like the world has tipped into sheer chaos.'

The last known person who communicated with John Forsyth was the woman he'd recently gotten engaged to, who texted with him at around 7am on May 21, his brother told the AP. 

The last time the two brothers met in person was at dinner on Wednesday, May 17.

'I told him this is the happiest I'd seen him in a long time. His divorce was final May 11, and I think that gave him energy for the future,' Richard Forsyth said.

John Forsyth had worked at Mercy Hospital for about 15 years, his brother said, describing him as a doting father, part-time math nerd and dedicated physician.

'He really cared about his patients,' Richard Forsyth said. 'And he loved his kids.'