Reward increased in man’s 2018 disappearance
A reward for information in the 2018 disappearance of a Dunlap, Tennessee, man has been increased as investigators seek leads in what is being probed as a homicide case.
Matthew Tyler Henry, 29, was last seen April 15, 2018. He is described as a white man, 5-foot-9, weighing 170 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes.
Dunlap police Chief Clint Huth said Monday the reward now, thanks to friends and family, has risen to $2,500.
Huth said despite having talked to more than 200 people and conducting 50 formal interviews, investigators remain stymied but hopeful the reward will prompt new information that leads to answers. Huth believes someone knows something that can help.
On the morning of April 15, 2018, Dunlap Police Department detective Bob Raber saw Henry in the parking lot of the local Tractor Supply on the south end of the downtown area.
“For the longest, we thought Bob was the last to see him in the parking lot,” Huth said Monday, “but there’s also a clerk at a convenience store who saw him later that same morning.”
Huth said Raber saw Henry getting out his car — a white convertible Ford Mustang — at the Tractor Supply store near the intersection of State Route 28 and U.S. Highway 127 where the two merge as Rankin Avenue, Dunlap’s main drag.
The clerk was working at The Little Store convenience store across State Route 28 from the Tractor Supply store but didn’t see Henry’s Mustang, he said.
“We don’t know if he walked over to the parking lot from the gas station,” Huth said, “but his vehicle was recovered right where Bob saw him in the Tractor Supply parking lot.”
Huth said city investigators have had help from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and FBI in tracking down information in other areas of the state
and across state lines.
Beverly Barker Henry, Matt Henry’s mother, said the family no longer believes he’s still alive but hopes for resolution and answers.
“We had not heard from him in a few weeks before he disappeared. We believe he is no longer with us because he always contacted me at least every week or so,” Beverly Henry said through social media. “He loved us, he loved his friends and would do anything for you.”
Beverly Henry said though her son struggled with addiction he always “had a huge heart and smile on his face.” What her son might have been doing the day he disappeared remains a mystery, she said.
Some local folks posting on the police department’s social media page agree with Huth that people in the community might be able to help.
“In this town, there is NO way that SOMEONE doesn’t know something. I sure hope they come forward so this poor family can have answers,” one woman posted a couple of days ago.
Despite that certainty, Huth said police have not had a fruitful lead.
Anyone who has information about Henry’s disappearance is urged to call Dunlap Police Department detective Robert Raber at 423-949-3319.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/ benbenton1.