One of the men the Tennessee Highway Patrol and others spent two days looking for in the Temperance Hall area almost two weeks ago is dead.
Sheriff Patrick Ray says on Wednesday, August 27th, Nicholas Hixon was at his home in Independence, Missouri, where he was found dead by a family member. Hixon apparently died of a self inflicted gunshot wound.
The Examiner, a Missouri newspaper, reports that the funeral for the 19 year old Hixon will be tonight (September 3rd) at the Mount Washington Chapel Mausoleum in Independence, Missouri
Hixon and Kirk Douglas Fincher, who were spotted by the THP on Interstate 40 Saturday, August 23rd, bailed out of the stolen car they were in near the Walker Creek Bridge at Temperance Hall after leading officers on a pursuit from Smith County into DeKalb County.
Fincher showed up at a residence in the area on Sunday and was held at gunpoint by a private citizen until officers arrived.
The search continued for Hickson, who authorities initially thought was still at large in the area.
However, Sheriff Ray says the TBI later learned that Hixon left the area enroute to Missouri. He apparently caught a ride to Nashville on Sunday morning, August 24th and used someone’s cell phone to call his mother in Missouri.
The TBI has also learned that Hixon got someone to check him into the Knight’s Inn on Spring Street in Nashville using a ficticious name Sunday evening where he spent the night.
He was last seen at a Greyhound bus terminal in Nashville Monday night, August 25th. His picture was captured at 6:01 p.m. Monday on a video tape from a surveillance camera at the bus station.
Sheriff Ray says Hixon was facing charges in Tennessee, but not in DeKalb County.