Arkansas officials say a Missouri doctor whose body was found in a lake died by suicide

The death of a highly regarded Missouri emergency room doctor whose body was found 11 months ago in a northwest Arkansas lake has been ruled a suicide, Arkansas authorities said Thursday, in a case that fueled social media speculation about whether his disappearance had been tied to his cryptocurrency dealings.

Dr. John Forsyth, 49, was last seen nearly a year ago near the RV that he parked at the Cassville, Missouri, hospital where he worked. The father of eight who was engaged to be married didn’t show up for his shift at Mercy Hospital on May 21, 2023, prompting a search. There was no sign of him until a kayaker found his body May 30 in Arkansas’ Beaver Lake, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of the hospital.

Detectives with the Benton County, Arkansas, sheriff’s office said Thursday that Forsyth died of a gunshot wound to the head. An autopsy by the chief medical examiner at the Arkansas State Crime Lab concluded the death was a suicide.

“Detectives have not been able to find any information or evidence that would lead us to dispute the medical examiner’s findings,” the sheriff’s statement said. “If objective and relevant physical evidence becomes available, those leads will be investigated on a case-by-case basis.”

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