Report: Autism Researcher Found Dead in N.C.

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A Braselton, Ga., man identified as noted autism researcher was found dead in a North Carolina river last week, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said James Jeffery Bradstreet was found dead by a fisherman in the Rocky Broad River in Chimney Rock, N.C. He had a gunshot wound to the chest, “which appears to be self-inflicted,” the sheriff’s officer reported on Facebook. A handgun was recovered in the river.

Bradstreet was a controversial figure who treated autism with unconventional methods, the Gwinnett Daily Post reported, including treating patients based on the belief that a childhood vaccination caused the disorder.

Read more from the Post here

The newspaper said Bradstreet’s Bradstreet Wellness Center in Buford was recently raided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, though the reason for the search wasn’t clear.

The Post reported some of Bradstreet’s supporters believe his death was not suicide, but rather a conspiracy. Many have credited him saving their children, the newspaper said.

Bradstreet’s body was taken to the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, and the death is still under investigation, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said.

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