Update on Singer-Songwriter Found Dead After Family Lost Contact: Latest on Terri Lynn Kathey’s Passing

Update, July 14, 2:30 p.m. ET: A benefit concert is set for Sunday at The Troubadour Nashville, with proceeds going to Terri Lynn Kathey’s family. Those unable to attend can support Kathey’s family by purchasing her music via the International Singer-Songwriters Association. The organization is currently selling copies of her album Bad Blues Good News in her memory.

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. 

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.