Update On Human Remains Found at Fishlake

On May 16, the remains of a human foot was found in a shoe on the shores of Fishlake. Sevier County Sheriff’s Office linked it to an individual who went missing in 1997, David White. According to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office, “White was intending to go fishing with some friends and had rented a hotel room nearby. Those plans fell through so White, being an avid fisherman, went fishing anyway. His boat was later reportedly found trolling across Fishlake with no one aboard. A shoe and hat were found floating in the water giving a possible indication where White was believed to have fallen in. There were no witnesses at the time. All of this was a mystery until now.” DNA from the found foot and DNA from a daughter were collected and sent to Bode Cellmark Forensics. Testing came back with a 99.9994% certainty the DNA samples were related, one being paternal of the other. Sheriff Nathan Curtis shared, “this case has been on the mind of every one of the SAR members who were involved in the search 28 years ago. It is good to finally have some closure for the family and the searchers.”