A Tennessee realtor’s disappearance in May is the subject of a new NBC Dateline investigation.
Roy Whited is the co-owner of Tri-Star Real Estate & Auction Co. Inc. in Sparta, Tennessee. He is also a basketball coach at the local high school and a pastor at DeRosset Church of Christ in Sparta. Whited’s disappearance was first realized when he failed to show up for church service on May 5 – his neighbor checked at Whited’s home and found his truck in the driveway with the keys on the console, while inside his cell phone was found charging.
A probe by the White County Sheriff’s office determined that Whited was last seen on May 3 when his truck was seen on a security camera pulling into his driveway. A neighbor reported seeing him walking down a road between 30 to 60 minutes later. Whited’s sister speculated the 64-year-old that he went for a walk as part of an exercise regimen after he complained about being out of shape.
“We had everybody that we could possibly find out searching for him. And he was nowhere – nowhere to be found,” said White County Sheriff Steve Page, adding that the search for Whited included drones, bloodhounds, helicopters and searchers on horseback.
Page added he knew Whited personally and his department was “exploring every lead – anything that comes in, we exhaust it till there’s no more. Right now, there’s still nothing. He’s vanished. We don’t know if it was against his will or if he just left. We have no idea.”
Photo courtesy of Tri-Star Real Estate & Auction Co. Inc.
