Dr. John Forsyth, an emergency room doctor, was found dead on May 30th.
Dr. Forsyth, who studied mathematics as an undergraduate, was also also a Bitcoin millionaire and the founder of a decentralized cryptocurrency called Onfo, a referral-based cryptocurrency project based on “social mining”.
It's reported that Dr. Forsyth had been missing for a week after failing to show up for work at the Mercy Hospital in Cassville, Missouri.
As an early adopter of Bitcoin and a vocal critic of the U.S. dollar, Dr. Forsyth was shot dead.
His last moment alive was recorded by a security cameras in the parking lot of a public pool in Cassville. The footage captured the 49-year-old doctor getting into another vehicle, a white SUV, after leaving his own car, a black Infiniti, unlocked with his wallet, work briefcase, two phones, a passport, a laptop, and other items inside.
Initially, the police didn't suspect any foul play in his death, but since investigators didn't release details following the death of Dr. Forsyth, the case was still mysterious to the public.
The search for Dr. John Forsyth began after the emergency room physician didn't show up for his May 21 shift.
Since nobody could call or track him, the police was involved.
There was no sign of Forsyth until a kayaker noticed his body in Arkansas on May 30 at Beaver Lake, some 30 kilometers from his last known location.
His body had an apparent gunshot wound, authorities in Arkansas said.
John's brother, Richard Forsyth said that his brother had texted his new fiancée around 7 a.m. the day he disappeared, telling her he would see her soon. Then he suddenly stopped responding to his messages.
Richard also said that his brother is not the kind of person who would skip work for no apparent reason.
"He wouldn't miss a shift even if his eyeballs were hanging out of their sockets," Richard said.
Another of John's family member said that the Doctor never missed a day of work and would often sleep in an RV outside the hospital when he was on call.
"There’s no way he killed himself," Richard said. "It doesn’t seem like a person who left with a plan."
This was clarified by John's colleagues. According to John's employer, John had always notified them in advance if he couldn’t make a shift in the past. So his sudden disappearance was unusual.
Family members have also rejected the idea that loving, happy father would commit suicide.
They said John was a devoted father to his eight kids, and that they rejected any suggestion that he took his own life.
However, according to the family, John had previously been involved in dangerous situations and that he was kidnapped and released in February 2022.
"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 he was threatened," Richard said.
The brother only learned about the kidnapping from a friend, and said John decided not to file a police report because he believed he was in continued danger.
However, Richard said that his brother didn’t say anything whether he has enemies.
Richard has no idea who would want to harm his brother.
The two brothers had their last in-person meeting over dinner on Wednesday, May 17. But according to Richard, during their meeting, John appeared to be in high spirits, stating that it was the happiest he had seen him in a while.
According to Richard, the Forsyths were together having dinner, when a state police officer came to the door to share the tragic news.
Born in 1974 in Idaho, John was the third of seven children, his sister Gina Forsyth-Farlaino said.
John only had gotten engaged just three days before his disappearance, but was also recently divorced. On May 10, a judge ordered Forsyth to pay his ex-wife $3,999 in child support a month, plus another $15,000 a month, according to court records.
Forsyth, who studied mathematics as an undergraduate, founded a decentralized cryptocurrency called Onfo, Forbes reported in 2020.
"It became obvious to me that math-based currencies (like Bitcoin) would eventually supplant sovereign notes. I mined Bitcoin and Litecoin very early on and held onto them," he told Forbes. "The massive appreciation of those assets allowed me to invest in other cryptocurrency technology which ultimately led to the development of Onfo, a platform that helps people earn money through network mining."
It was in 2020, when Forbes called him a "Bitcoin millionaire" who had a passion for mathematics and blockchain technology.
Forsyth's death is the latest in a series of mysterious fatalities among crypto enthusiasts and entrepreneurs.
"We’re devastated, especially at the nature of his passing,” Richard said.