Singer-Songwriter Found Dead After Being Reported Missing: Update on Terri Lynn Kathey's Passing

Police have shared findings in Terri Lynn Kathey's death.

By John Connor Coulston

Update, June 23, 12:45 p.m. ET: Police tell Local 3 News, a Chattanooga-based NBC affiliate, that no foul play is suspected in the death of singer-songwriter Terri Lynn Kathey. The staff report, which isn't attributed to a named reporter, says "apparent natural causes" were to blame.

Original Story, June 19, 4:42 p.m. ET: The family of missing Southern singer Terri Lynn Kathey received devastating news on Tuesday. Kathey, a vocalist in the gospel and blues genres, was found dead at Monteagle Welcome Center in Monteagle, Tennessee, after going missing on Sunday. She was 71.

As Taste of Country reports, family friend Kerry Pharr shared a public plea on Facebook Monday, saying that Kathey was missing. He relayed, "Her husband Kevin just called and no one has heard from her in 24 hours. They own a Courier Service and she left home around 4;30 A.M. Sunday morning, she made a purchase at Hardee's on Elm Hill Pike in Nashville, TN at 6:30 A.M. No one has seen or heard from her since."

Nashville CBS affiliate WTVF (NewsChannel5) reports that Kathey was headed to Chattanooga when she went missing. Pharr shared that her phone was "pinged" at a cellphone tower near Monteagle Mountain, and her husband had been searching the area. 

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Kathey's remains were eventually discovered at Monteagle Welcome Center, a rest stop in the area just off Interstate 24, the primary route between Nashville and Chattanooga. Pharr said in a follow-up post that she was found deceased in her car and that the cause of death was "possibly a heart attack."

No memorial details have been made public as of press time.

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