TO HELP INVESTIGATORS
Anyone with any information regarding the April 2018 disappearance of Matthew Tyler Henry should contact the Dunlap Police Department at 423-949-3319, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation tip line at 1-800-824-3463 or submit a tip online at the Sequatchie County Sheriff’s Office website at sequatchiesheriff.com.
Police in Dunlap, Tennessee, say the probe into the April 2018 disappearance of then 29-year-old Matthew Tyler Henry is narrowing thanks to new information netted since state and federal agencies joined the investigation over the last few months.
"TBI has been a huge help for us having a field agent assigned to us. Since they've come onboard, we've got more leads and more tips," police Chief Clint Huth said Tuesday. Huth didn't go into details on tips in Henry's disappearance, which he said consisted of a "variety" of information, but said the outside help is generating new information for investigators.
Henry's family has also put up a $3,500 reward, increased from $2,500, for information in the case, the chief said.
The TBI started working on the case earlier this year after a District Attorney General Mike Taylor formally requested assistance, and the FBI started helping over the summer, Huth said. Foul play was suspected as the case unfolded.
"In the last couple of months, we feel like we're narrowing the investigation," Huth said.
Henry was last seen April 15, 2018. He is described as a white man, 5-foot-9, weighing 170 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes.
Henry's mother is thankful her son's case is moving forward and she urged people to spread the word.
"We do appreciate the attention our son's case is receiving at this time and pray it leads to justice for him and some type of closure for our family," Henry's mother, Beverly Barker Henry said through a social media message. "We appreciate every prayer, text message, and share on Facebook."
Huth said the added attention generates talk and tips.
"Most of them were tips we'd already heard but that's OK," he said of recent help. "Some of the information that came in was new information, fresh information."
Some tips included theories about what happened to Henry and investigators are open to ideas.
"Even though we'd tracked it down once, we'd track it down again to make sure we'd covered all our bases," Huth said. "Some theories we might have tracked down two or three times."
Public awareness is key, he said, noting that media coverage produces tips every time a story runs.
"But most of what we have is from interviewing people," he said. "We have interviewed a lot of people."
More than 200 people have been informally interviewed with between 50 and 100 having been formally interviewed at the police department, the chief said.
"Some people interviewed we think they might know something or we think they might have heard something; others that we've interviewed we have not ruled out that they could possibly be involved," he said. "I wouldn't necessarily classify them as a person of interest or a suspect, we have suspicions at some level they may have involvement in the case."
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.