Global Courant
EXCLUSIVE DETAILS: The family of slain Missouri ER doctor and crypto millionaire John Forsyth say they have been kept completely “in the dark” barring a puzzling statement from law enforcement.
“The Missouri State Police told us, ‘We know more than you think,'” Forsyth’s brother Richard Forsyth told Fox News Digital. “We are angry that we are being kept in the dark like this.”
The doctor’s body was found nine days after his disappearance with a gunshot wound in an Arkansas lake in the Ozarks. The family said he had told them in the past that he “could be in danger.” Although detectives questioned Richard for two hours on Tuesday, they did not share details, he said.
Forsyth disappeared May 21 after completing a hospital shift in Cassville, Missouri, a town of 3,100.
MISSING MISSOURI DOCTOR FOUND DEAD IN LAKE BY GUNSHOT AFTER PREVIOUS DEFORMATION REVEALED
The body of dr. John Forsyth, who disappeared May 21, turned up in Beaver Lake in northwestern Arkansas, his brother said. (Google maps/Cassville Police Department)
The cryptic statement that has left more questions than answers seems to echo the secretive life of the eccentric ER doctor, whose bizarre demise echoes a storyline from the Netflix crime thriller “Ozark.”
A proposal and a baby on the way
The beloved ER doctor’s fiancé, a nurse he worked with, is eight months pregnant with the couple’s first child, a source told Fox News Digital, keeping her name a secret to protect her privacy.
Most of his family were unaware that he was engaged, and no one had met his child’s mother until after his disappearance on May 21.
A diagram of the movements of Dr. John Forsyth after he went missing. (Google, Mega for Fox News Digital)
He finalized his divorce from his ex-wife in May with an order to pay about $19,000 a month in alimony and child support, which he did not dispute, court documents show. The loving father has eight children, seven of whom he shares with his ex-wife.
MISSOURI ER DOCTOR FOUND DEAD 3 DAYS AFTER CALLING FOR EXPECTED DISAPPOINTED
Speaking publicly for the first time to Fox News Digital, Forsyth’s father, Robert Forsyth, said the loss is especially tragic for his son’s fiancée, whose child will never meet him.
“I have never cried and prayed as much as I have in the past two weeks. It was just heartbreaking,” said the 76-year-old neuropsychologist. “They were planning their wedding.” Robert only learned of the proposal and pregnancy after the tragedy.
A missing person poster created by the family of Dr. John Forsyth before he was found dead in Beaver Lake, Arkansas. (Facebook)
A public vigil will be held at Monett City Park in Missouri on June 8.
The disappearance
Forsyth, who often worked 80 hours a week, ended his 12-hour shift on May 21 at Mercy Hospital.
He texted his fiancée that he would see her “just a little bit” at about 7 a.m., but abruptly stopped responding, Cassville Police Det. Stuart Lombard previously told Fox News Digital.
Dr. John Forsyth failed to show up for his 7 p.m. shift on May 21 at Mercy Hospital in Cassville, Missouri. (Google Maps)
He was captured on security footage heading to his luxury motor home, a Thor Motor Coach Challenger whose base model costs $260,000.
Forsyth lived more than an hour away and stayed in the camper during his hard shifts.
PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEE WANTED FOR DEFORMATION TAKES COPS AT HIGH SPEED ACROSS MULTIPLE COUNTIES: POLICE
According to Lombard, a dark sedan was captured on grainy security footage at 7:12 a.m. pulling into the parking lot of the Cassville Aquatic Center, about a mile from the hospital. Three minutes later, a white SUV pulled up next to the sedan and took off.
A man suspected by police who was Forsyth can walk around 10 to 15 minutes later.
A luxury motorhome sits on a seized Barry County Sheriff’s lot in Cassville, Missouri, on June 1, 2023. The vehicle is believed to be the RV where Dr. John Forsyth would sleep in at the Mercy Hospital where he worked. Dr. John Forsyth was found dead of a gunshot wound Tuesday at Beaver Lake Reservoir in Arkansas. (Mega for Fox News Digital)
He was supposed to be back at the hospital at 7pm but didn’t show up. His Acura was found that night, hidden at a waste facility about 220 meters from the entrance to the aquatic center.
He had left his belongings, including his wallet, U.S. passport, five phones, and his laptop, in his unlocked RV and car. His stethoscope dangled from the rear-view mirror of his car.
After nine frantic days of searching for the missing father, a kayaker found his body in Beaver Lake, about 25 miles south of Cassville.
“So he goes to Beaver Lake if he hasn’t slept all night. He has no car and no cell phone,” said Richard Forsyth. ‘It does not make any sense. It is impossible that he went of his own accord.’
Benton County Sheriff divers search Beaver Lake in Rogers, Arkansas, Friday, June 2, 2023. The body of Dr. John Forsyth who was found in the lake on Tuesday. (Mega for Fox News Digital)
red flags
Forsyth was kidnapped and then released in February 2022, according to his brother and father, who only learned of the kidnapping after he went missing again.
“It was cold. He was tied up. He felt very unsafe and was taken on a car ride to a bridge with some people and threatened,” said Richard, who co-created a cryptocurrency called Onfo with his brother.
The Forsyth family pose for a photo in Springfield, Missouri on June 3, 2023. Dr. John Forsyth was found dead of a gunshot wound on May 30 in Beaver Lake, Arkansas. (Mega for Fox News Digital)
The person who told them about the kidnapping said Forsyth did not report the harrowing ordeal to protect those close to him, but said it was somehow related to cryptocurrency.
“He’s often said he could be in danger,” Richard said. “But it was always very vague.”
TEXAS WOMAN SAYS SHE IS A MISSING CHILD OVER 20 YEARS AGO IN CHICAGO: REPORTS
Robert added that his son told him he had “made some enemies” and would “suggest that there are people out there who don’t like what I do,” but he didn’t elaborate.
An undated selfie of brothers Richard and Dr. John Forsyth provided to Fox News Digital. Dr. Forsyth, an ER doctor, was found dead of a gunshot wound on May 30, 2023, in Beaver Lake, Arkansas. (Provided to Fox News Digital)
His son’s twin obsessions from a young age were medicine and math, which he studied as an undergraduate before earning his medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine.
Onfo a ‘revolution’ in cryptocurrency
In a 2020 interview with Forbes, Forsyth spoke early on about investing in bitcoin, which had made him a millionaire.
“It became clear to me that math-based currencies (such as bitcoin) would eventually displace sovereign notes,” he told the business magazine. “I have been mining and holding bitcoin and litecoin from a very early age. The huge appreciation of those assets allowed me to invest in other cryptocurrency technology which eventually led to the development of Onfo.”
Benton County Sheriff divers search Beaver Lake in Rogers, Arkansas, Friday, June 2, 2023. The body of Dr. John Forsyth who was found in the lake on Tuesday. (Mega for Fox News Digital)
Richard said Onfo is a purely philanthropic venture. He called it a cryptocurrency designed to be accessible to the masses, unlike bitcoin, which must be bought or mined.
With Onfo, users sign up with a referral code and earn cryptocurrency by sharing that code with others. The more the user expands the network, the more they earn, but the digital currency, one of about 22,000, remains unclear.
At some point, the Onfo website went down and there were other hiccups in the endeavor, which confused some users, Richard said.
“People were angry with us for various reasons,” he added. “We tried to innovate, we tried to do something new. In any financial sector, you get a lot of malice in a concentrated form.”
An undated family photo shows parents, Robert and Dixie Forsyth, seated, with their children behind them, far left, son, Dr. John Forsyth, and on the far right, son, Robert Forsyth. (Provided to Fox News Digital)
The three agencies investigating Forsyth’s murder — the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Arkansas Benton County Sheriff’s Office and the Cassville Police Department — have not returned requests for comment.
Global Courant
Forsyth’s ex-wife and fiancé refused to speak to Fox News Digital.
Rebecca Rosenberg is an accomplished journalist and author of books with a focus on crime and criminal justice. Email tips to [email protected] and @ReRosenberg.
