Missing ‘bitcoin millionaire’ and crypto founder found dead in Ozarks
A missing ‘bitcoin millionaire’ has been found dead in North-West Arkansas after disappearing earlier this month, his family revealed on Tuesday.
ER doctor and cryptocurrency creator John Forsyth was reported missing on May 21 after he failed to show up to work at Mercy Hospital in Cassville, a small town deep in the Missouri Ozarks. His brother and crypto business partner Richard Forsyth said at the time, “He wouldn’t miss a shift even if his eyeballs were hanging out of their sockets… It was an immediate red flag.”
Forsyth’s last moment of contact was a text he sent in the early morning on the day of his disappearance to his recently engaged partner. His car was discovered unlocked at a nearby lake. His mobile phone, work briefcase, wallet, and passport were left inside.
Despite a nine-mile radius search from police involving dogs and drones, Forsyth remained missing for over a week. On Tuesday night, authorities reportedly contacted Forsyth’s family to reveal they had found the doctor deceased.
Forsyth was a ‘bitcoin millionaire’ according to Forbes
Forsyth’s son told reporters that his father had been interested in crypto for over a decade. Before he disappeared, Forsyth was “insanely busy” with his work as a doctor and with his crypto company, he said.
The doctor and his brother Richard reportedly created Onfocoin. John was cited in Forbes as being a Bitcoin millionaire created from previous Bitcoin halvings.
He told the outlet in 2020, “I mined bitcoin and litecoin very early on and held onto them. 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.”
When Forsyth went missing, his brother told reporters that their shared passion for cryptocurrency has “made [them] some enemies.” However, Forsyth’s family admitted that it didn’t seem like crypto was on the doctor’s mind in his final days.
“We had dinner Wednesday before he disappeared, and we sat and talked for three hours,” his brother said (via AP News). “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.”
Police have said there’s no indication of foul play.
Mysterious deaths of crypto tycoons happen regularly
Late last year, a Russian crypto billionaire called Vyacheslav Taran was killed in a helicopter crash near Monaco. Reports say the weather was good and that another unnamed would-be passenger canceled their journey at the last minute.
Ukrainian media previously alleged that Taran, the co-founder of trading and investment platform Libertex and foreign exchange trading group Forex Club, was connected to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service and had laundered funds through crypto.
Russian billionaire latest crypto tycoon to die mysteriously
Read more: MobileCoin founder Bob Lee’s murder was planned, prosecutors say
However, Taran’s family dispute these claims. Members of the family told Protos that the reports are “completely unfounded fabrications and outright lies.”
Indeed, a string of dead crypto millionaires and moguls has prompted theorists to speculate on their passings. When Bob Lee was murdered, the founder of Cash App and crypto project MobileCoin, users online began to speculate immediately.
In the end, Lee’s murder was announced by the police as a planned affair leading to the arrest of tech consultant Nima Momeni, who police accuse of stabbing Lee.