Contributed photo / Matthew Tyler Henry, 29 when he was last seen in April 2018, is the subject of a Dunlap Police Department missing person investigation.Dunlap police have hired help in two 2018 missing persons cases in Sequatchie County, and for the first time authorities say there are persons of interest in both investigations.
Retired Chattanooga police homicide detective Bill Phillips has entered into a $9,500 contract with the city of Dunlap to help find Matthew Tyler Henry, 29, and Tiffany Diane Holbert, 42, both of whom went missing within two months of one another a little over two years ago. The disappearances are not believed to be related.
The retired homicide detective has been instrumental in solving cold case investigations in Chattanooga over the years, according to Dunlap police Chief Randy Phillips. Chief Phillips and Bill Phillips, who is also from Sequatchie County, are first cousins.
“The big thing is these cases have been through two chiefs and two sheriffs, several detectives and several TBI [Tennessee Bureau of Investigation] agents,” the chief said. Phillips took the helm at the department earlier this year after longtime chief Clint Huth retired in January.
Bill Phillips “worked with Chattanooga homicide for years and was supervisor over homicide for several years and headed up the cold case homicides over the years,” Randy Phillips said. “He has a lot more experience in those types of cases than any of the officers here have.”