Found Deceased KY - Josh Woodhams, adult, May have Mongoose mountain bike, Lexington, Clays Ferry Bridge, 17 June 2023

[Oakie]

Josh Woodhams, white male, 6'2", 240 lbs, bald, blue eyes, was last seen by his family in Lexington on June 17th, 2023. His last known cell phone ping was in the general area of Clays Ferry (for those of you not from Kentucky, there is a bridge on I-75 high above the KY River there).

His family thinks he left on an orange Mongoose mountain bike similar to the one shown in the photo, and that he might be headed toward Knoxville TN or Morristown TN.

News links:

Lexington Police Looking for Missing Man

Family Frantically Searching for Missing Man

 

[AmandaSkis]

He’s planning to ride a mountain bike to TN??

 

[PommyMommy]

JUN 23, 2023

Missing Lexington man may be heading toward Knoxville

HAVE YOU SEEN HIM? The Lexington Police Department is searching for Josh Woodhams who was last seen Saturday near Todds Road.

www.wate.com

[...]

According to the Lexington man’s family, cellphone data indicates that it was last pinged at two locations in the early morning hours on Sunday:

• At 2:30 a.m. his phone was within a three-mile radius of I-75 at exit 104 in Lexington.
• At 3 a.m. his phone was within a three-mile radius of the Clays Ferry Bridge.

The family told FOX56 he left his home on June 17 on a 22″ orange Mongoose mountain bike wearing a black Ohio State T-shirt, black Nike basketball shorts, with gray and black new balance tennis shoes. Woodhams was reported missing the following day.

They are asking all homes and businesses in the area to check camera footage during this time frame. It is possible he could be heading toward Morristown or Knoxville, Tennessee, where the family has previously lived.

[...]

 

[Oakie]

U.S. highway 25 roughly parallels I-75, and he could take that all the way to Knoxville.

When I was in college, another student I knew, who came from a very poor family, had a kid's spyder-type bike as his only means of transportation, and he would routinely ride it home on U.S. 25 to visit his family....a distance of about 80 miles each way.

 

[CastlesBurning]

Where is Josh Woodhams? Family provides new information into the disappearance of a Lexington father

 

[PommyMommy]

Where is Josh Woodhams? Family provides new information into the disappearance of a Lexington father

Oh no, it doesn't sound like they're any closer to finding him other than eliminating the areas that have been searched. MOO

Noting:

• His wife says this is out of character: “he’s never done anything like this before.”
• It’s believed he left home on an orange mongoose mountain bike; his wife told FOX 56 News this was confirmed from surveillance footage and corroborated by cellphone data the night of his disappearance.
• The bike has not been located.
• Surveillance video showed Josh wearing a red T-shirt the night of his disappearance (not the black Ohio State t-shirt previously reported).
• LE has searched using helicopters, K-9s, drones, and geothermal tracking.
• “They have also searched down at the River near the Clays Ferry Bridge since there was a data pull in that area,” Krystal said. “Nothing.”

• Around 2:20 a.m. Woodhams was spotted via surveillance footage at the Speedway on Richmond Road at the I-75 South entrance
• At 2:30 a.m. his phone was within a three-mile radius of I-75 at exit 104 in Lexington.
• At 3 a.m. his phone was within a three-mile radius of the Clays Ferry Bridge.

 

[Oakie]

There are truck stops at each of the nearby interstate exits (Richmond Road, Clays Ferry, and Whitehall). If this was a planned disappearance, he might have hitched a ride with a trucker, and be anywhere in the country, starting a new life.

The fact that he was riding around on a bike, on busy roads, at 2:30AM, is worrying. He might have been suffering from a sudden mental health crisis...in which case, anything is possible.

His last known location is close enough to me, that I could search for him myself; I'd like to know exactly where the police have searched. The countryside thereabouts is steep and heavily wooded, and there are cliffs and caves. He might have been hit by a car, and be just off a road in the woods, completely out of sight, invisible to anyone driving around in a car. If that is the case, only meticulous on-foot searching would help. I keep thinking of the recent case of that fellow in Scotland (Anthony Parsons) who was riding his bike at night and was hit by two brothers in a car, driving while intoxicated.

 

[?!?]

Interesting(?) employment record:

https://www.instantcheckmate.com/people/joshua-woodhams/tennessee/

 

[caradana]

I wish we had a charity to donate to that did solely high-res cameras on bridges. I’d donate.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Coroner identifies skeletal remains found under Clays Ferry Bridge in July 2023

The Fayette County Coroner identified skeletal remains found under the Clays Ferry Bridge on July 15, 2023.

www.lex18.com

Not likely to be Josh, but maybe they found some other poor person during their search.

 

[Oakie]

Coroner identifies skeletal remains found under Clays Ferry Bridge in July 2023

The Fayette County Coroner identified skeletal remains found under the Clays Ferry Bridge on July 15, 2023.

www.lex18.com

Not likely to be Josh, but maybe they found some other poor person during their search.

That article has a good picture of the Clays Ferry bridge....here it is, for future reference...

 

[Oakie]

More, from station WKYT (it's looking more like this is Josh....):

Man finds skeletal remains under Clays Ferry Bridge

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Human remains were discovered just before 10:00 a.m. Saturday near the Clays Ferry Bridge.

Officials say a man was looking for his friend, when he found the skeletal remains.

Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn says they believe they know who the victim is, but they are taking the remains to the Medical Examiner’s office in Frankfort to get a positive identification. Then, they will transport the remains to a Forensic Odontologist in Louisville.

The coroner’s office is still working to notify next of kin.

Ginn says Lexington Police have been searching the area for a man using drones and helicopters, but it’s a difficult area due to the canopy of trees. He says the bridge itself is very busy and there is a steep grade, which can be slippery, making it easy to fall.

I-75 Southbound travel has been impacted since the discovery.

 

[PommyMommy]

JUL 19, 2023
Two sets of remains found in Lexington still unidentified | Lexington Herald Leader (kentucky.com)
Human remains found Saturday morning beneath the Clays Ferry Bridge have not yet been positively identified, nor has a body found Monday near Versailles Road, Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said Tuesday.

Ginn said he is working with the medical examiner, a DNA lab and another government agency to identify the remains found near the bridge, possibly through the help of dental records.

Another unidentified body, found at about 8:45 p.m. Monday in a wooded area in the 2000 block of Versailles Road, is also pending autopsy results for age, race and gender, the coroner said in a news release Tuesday evening.

[...]

 

[Oakie]

JUL 19, 2023
Two sets of remains found in Lexington still unidentified | Lexington Herald Leader (kentucky.com)
Human remains found Saturday morning beneath the Clays Ferry Bridge have not yet been positively identified, nor has a body found Monday near Versailles Road, Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said Tuesday.

Ginn said he is working with the medical examiner, a DNA lab and another government agency to identify the remains found near the bridge, possibly through the help of dental records.

Another unidentified body, found at about 8:45 p.m. Monday in a wooded area in the 2000 block of Versailles Road, is also pending autopsy results for age, race and gender, the coroner said in a news release Tuesday evening.

[...]

Thanks for the update. I've been scouring news sources for an update, but hadn't seen that one yet.

 

[CastlesBurning]

RIP Josh

Read Joshua David Woodhams's Obituary & Leave Condolences

 

[PommyMommy]

Rest peacefully, Josh.