Missing ‘Bitcoin Millionaire’ and ONFO coin co-creator found dead: Report

The body of Dr. John Forsyth has been found following a week-long search but police reportedly said foul play did not appear to be a factor.

The co-founder of referral-based crypto project ONFO coin has been found dead from an apparent gunshot wound about a week after he went missing, although police don’t currently suspect foul play. 

Dr. John Forsyth, a crypto advocate and emergency room doctor, was reported missing by relatives after not showing up to his shift at the Mercy Hospital in Cassville, Missouri, on May 21. His family launched an appeal on his whereabouts on social media soon after.

Speaking to the Daily Beast at the time, his younger brother, Richard Forsyth, said that John Forsyth wouldn’t miss a shift, so it was “an immediate red flag.”

Authorities found Forsyth’s sedan parked less than a mile away from the hospital on May 28.

Forsyth’s wallet, passport, laptop, and work briefcase were found inside the unlocked vehicle. His brother added, “his cell phones were inside, which is also very uncharacteristic because he always has his cell phone.”

“It doesn’t seem like a person who left with a plan,” Richard Forsyth told the Associated Press on May 30.

However, John Forsyth’s body was found on May 30, about an hour south of where he was last seen, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Local police said foul play does not appear to be a factor.

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The 49-year-old founded ONFO coin with his brother Richard in 2020. The crypto project purportedly allows users to earn coins by referring others to the platform, a term it calls “network mining”.

ONFO has promoted itself by depicting the demise of the U.S. dollar through videos such as “THE U S DOLLAR IS DOOMED," a video that was posted to YouTube in 2021. There haven’t been any new videos posted in a year, though.

In 2020, Forbes labeled John Forsyth a “Bitcoin millionaire” who was studying mathematics as an undergraduate and who was exposed early to Bitcoin (BTC) and blockchain technology.

Forsyth joins a list of crypto advocates and founders that have died under mysterious circumstances.

In April, the creator of Cash App and the former technology chief at Square, Bob Lee, was killed in a stabbing attack. Authorities made an arrest on April 13 but did not comment on the motive of the attack.

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