Derek Funk (Photo courtesy KPD)
Note: This story was updated at 2:27 p.m.
A dive team has located unidentified human remains near a pickup truck that was last seen being driven by a man with Oak Ridge ties who has been missing since 2010, authorities said.
The 1996 Ford Ranger pickup truck was found upside down and under water in the 1400 block of Island Home Avenue in Knoxville on Thursday, Knoxville Police Department spokesman Darrell DeBusk said. It’s the same vehicle last seen being driven by Derek Ryan Funk, 19, who has been missing since May 12, 2010.
Funk went to Oak Ridge High School—he graduated in 2009—and his parents live in Oak Ridge.
DeBusk said the remains haven’t been identified yet.
A truck pulled from the water in south Knoxville may have belonged to a missing local man, according to Knoxville police. (Photo courtesy WBIR-TV)
A caller reported seeing the wheels of the upside-down pickup truck protruding from the water near Island Home Avenue at about 12:16 p.m. Thursday. A tow truck was called to the scene, which is south of downtown Knoxville, to pull the vehicle from the water.
“It was quickly determined that no one was in the vehicle and that it had been in the water for an extended period of time,†DeBusk said.
He said Funk left his girlfriend’s house in Powell at about midnight May 12, 2010, and never arrived home at his residence on Coffman Drive in South Knoxville. Funk, who was employed as a welder in Knoxville, also failed to show up for work.
“Investigators and forensic technicians are continuing to process the vehicle for additional information in the disappearance of Mr. Funk,†DeBusk said.
He said a dive team from the Knoxville Volunteer Rescue Squad responded to the scene to search for additional evidence under water.
“The dive team has been successful in locating human remains,” DeBusk said. “It is undetermined at this point if the remains are those of Mr. Funk.”
The family had offered a $10,000 reward for information about Funk.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Shelley Wright says
My thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Funk’s family. I have followed his story since he first went missing. In fact, I joined an internet community for unsolved cases and the missing/lost just yesterday after seeing his parents on television. Although it is heartbreaking to know there were human remains found, no matter who it turns out to be, I hope if it is him it brings his family some peace and maybe closure. I cannot imagine losing one of my children.