Missing Tracy City man's body found Monday in Grundy Forest

Brandon Lee Price [tight].
Brandon Lee Price [tight].
photo Brandon Lee Price

The body of a missing Tracy City, Tenn., man was found Monday in a remote area of Grundy County.

Sheriff Clint Shrum said 25-year-old Brandon Lee Price was found by a hiker about 9 a.m. CST Monday between Werner Point and Sycamore Falls in the Grundy Forest State Natural Area. He was reported missing by his family on Jan. 6.

The location where Price's body was found - a few miles south of the Grundy Forest day loop trailhead - is about 4 miles "as the crow flies" from where Price lived, Shrum said.

He added there was nothing to indicate foul play but the state medical examiner in Nashville is performing an autopsy to make sure.

Recovery efforts were completed by 4:30 p.m. Monday, the sheriff said.

Price was last seen about 10 a.m. CST Jan. 6 at his home on Clifford Dykes Road in a remote area southwest of Tracy City.

Shrum said investigators initially thought Price might have been headed to his father's home in California. The discovery Monday left Price's family "distraught," the sheriff said.

Sheriff's deputies and 10-12 state park rangers worked with the rescue teams on Monday's recovery effort.

While he was missing, Price was the subject of ground searches using teams of people and tracking dogs, as well as an aerial search by the Tennessee Highway Patrol's helicopter.

National Weather Service records show temperatures across the region on the weekend Price went missing never got above freezing in most areas and were in the teens in mountainous areas like Grundy County.

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.

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