Cause of death revealed for Ohio man found dead in river

These Woodbine Fire and Rescue divers helped recover the body of an Ohio man from the Clear Fork River on April 17.

Officials have ruled out foul play in the death of an Ohio man, who went missing on Jan. 24 at the Kentucky Welcome Center and whose body was found on April 17 in the Clear Fork River.

Whitley County Coroner Andy Croley said the state medical examiner’s office has determined that the cause of death for Randall Alan Walker, 54, was drowning and his manner of death was accidental.

“There is no foul play suspected at this time mainly because the cause of death was drowning,” Croley said. “There was no other medical reason for his death.”

Walker was riding with a friend when they stopped at the Kentucky Welcome Center on Jan. 24. He was last seen at 3 a.m., but wasn’t reported missing until about 11 a.m. that morning.

Walker was bi-polar when off his medications, which he left behind in the vehicle he was traveling in along with his cane, according to a Golden Alert that was issued for him.

Whitley County Emergency Director Danny Moses said that he checked restaurants and gas stations in nearby Jellico on Jan. 24, but there was no sign of Walker.

In addition, about 12 – 15 searchers from South Whitley Volunteer Fire Department, Williamsburg Fire and Rescue, and Kentucky Emergency Management searched the grassy area and woods near the rest area but found no evidence that Walker went in the direction towards the river or woods.

A few weeks later, emergency officials returned to the area and searched along I-75 north of the Welcome Center to Exit 11 in Williamsburg, but found no trace of Walker.

The body was found in the river about 1.5 miles from where Walker had last been seen, Croley noted.

“He wasn’t aware of his surroundings in the area. By not being aware of his surroundings, he may have gone through the wooded area and easily gotten lost or confused. There is really no known reason why he ended up where he ended up,” Croley said.

“There is a strong suggestion that toxicology results in his system may have been a factor.”
Croley said that because of the length of time Walker was missing and the amount of time he was in the water, there was no way to perform a toxicology test to see what substances were in Walker’s system at the time of his death.