Authorities Find Body of Missing Canton Resident

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Authorities in North Carolina have found the body of the Canton resident reported missing earlier this week.

Sgt. H.V. Warren with the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office said the body of Douglas Michael Shockley, 46, was found by search and rescue personnel at 1:42 p.m. Saturday about three-fourths of a mile from where his truck was found Thursday afternoon.

Shockley was found dead from an apparent “self-inflicted gunshot wound” in the Crabtree community in the northern part of the county, Sgt. Warren stated in a press release.

An autopsy will be performed to verify cause of death of death, he added.

“This is a sad and tragic situation that has changed a family’s dynamics forever,” said Haywood County Sheriff Greg Christopher. “Our prayers are with the family.”

More than fifty search and rescue personnel from numerous area law enforcement, fire, rescue squad, emergency services and canine handlers had been combing the woods and rocky terrain of the Crabtree/Fines Creek area daily since Thursday in an attempt to locate Shockley.

Shockley was reported missing from the BridgeMill area around 9 a.m. Monday, May 11. On Thursday, Haywood County deputies received a call reporting an ”unoccupied vehicle on the side of a road in the Crabtree/Fines Creek area,” the sheriff’s office added.

Deputies checked the white 2015 Nissan Frontier pickup truck and found it was registered to Shockley.

“This was a total team effort that included many agencies we are thankful to have as partners,” Sheriff Christopher said. “We appreciate every agency and individual who has assisted us these last three days.”

Search and rescue personnel from the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office, Emergency Medical Services, 911 and Rescue Squad were joined by others from Waynesville and Canton (North Carolina) police departments, as well as Henderson, Jackson and Buncombe County rescue squads, N.C. State Highway Patrol, fire departments from Fines Creek, Crabtree, Cruso and Asheville, the State Bureau of Investigation, NC Search and Rescue Dog teams and the Independent Search & Rescue Canine Handlers in the three-day search for Shockley.

What Should You Read Next?

• Truck Driven By Missing Canton Man Found in North Carolina
• Sheriff’s Deputies Search For Missing Cherokee Man

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Photo credits: Find Mike Shockley’s Facebook page