LAWRENCE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) – A Lawrence County man who was last seen on Jan. 25 was found dead over the weekend in the Bankhead National Forest, according to a spokesperson for the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office.
Lawrence County Chief Deputy Brian Covington confirmed that Chad Garrie, 44, of Trinity was found dead Saturday in Bankhead at about 8:30 a.m.
No cause of death is available at this time, Covington said, but he added that an autopsy was performed on Monday by the Alabama Department of Forensics. The results of the autopsy will be determined after a toxicology report.
Officials do not believe there was foul play involved in Garrie’s death. The last time someone spoke to Garrie was Jan. 25, and Covington said it appears that he died around that time based on decomposition and weather conditions in the days since.
Authorities said that Garrie’s truck was located on Feb. 2 at Indian Tomb Hollow. He said a multi-agency search started at 8 am on Feb. 3 and went on for 3 full days until it was suspended on Feb. 5.
Covington said the Sheriff’s office suspended its search operation for Chad Garrie, 44, of Trinity in the Bankhead National Forest on Feb. 5 after the search did not yield results.
“This is not the outcome we had hoped for. I want to thank all the search teams that helped look for Mr Garrie,” said Lawrence County Sheriff Max Sanders.
According to Covington, rescue teams searched approximately 4,500 acres of rugged terrain in the forest. One searcher reportedly suffered a broken leg and is now recovering from their injury.