TUPELO – Alabama authorities said the death of a missing Tupelo dentist has been ruled an accident. Dr. Thurmond Beasley was found dead in his car near Anniston, Alabama on Sept. 26. Officials from the Alabama Highway Patrol said Beasley’s car was upside down in a creek. Beasley, 67, was still strapped inside.
Beasley was last heard from on Sunday, Sept. 26, when he contacted family members in Mississippi to tell them he was leaving Atlanta. Beasley was last seen checking out of the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Peachtree Street about 7 a.m.
When Beasley didn’t return home late Sunday night, his family contacted the Tupelo Police Department.
A search began for Beasley, and his sister, daughter, son and brother traveled to Atlanta looking for the missing dentist who was last seen driving his black Lexus with Mississippi plates.
Four days later, on Thursday, Sept. 30, Beasley was found by a road crew working on Interstate 20 near Anniston, Alabama.
“It was actually the Alabama Department of Transportation,” said Trooper Chad Joyner, with the Alabama Highway Patrol. “They were working on the shoulders picking up tire treads and debris. One of them looked over the side of the road and saw the vehicle.”
Joyner said Beasley was traveling westbound on I-20 when he struck a bridge rail and his vehicle came to rest in the creek.
“It was about a 60 foot drop down the embankment where he was found,” said Joyner. “And his vehicle was upside down in the creek and he was still inside, and still wearing his seatbelt.”
Cleburne County Coroner Rudy Rooks, who pronounced Beasley at the scene, said the creek was about two feet deep and Beasley was partially submerged in the water. Rooks said Beasley did not drown, but died due to blunt force trauma due to the accident.
Authorities said the accident occurred about 7:30 a.m., Sept. 26, a half hour after Beasley was last seen in Atlanta.
Joyner said there was no reconstruction of the accident since only one vehicle was involved, but there was an investigation. Joyner said there were no skid marks on the pavement where Beasley’s body was found.
“There were marks on the bridge where his vehicle hit it,” Joyner said. “But there was no structural damage and no skid marks.”
Beasley had been a dentist in Tupelo for 35 years and was on staff at North Mississippi Medical Center and Baptist Memorial Hospital.
In 2002, former Mississippi governor Ronnie Musgrove, appointed Beasley to the Mississippi State Board of Dental Examiners.
“Dr. Beasley has demonstrated his commitment to quality health care in Mississippi, and that commitment will continue with his service on this board,” Musgrove said at the time of Beasley‘s appointment. “I appreciate his willingness to serve and the experience he brings to the table.”
Beasley, who had three children and was buried on Oct. 2, was also a member of the American Dental Association and Mississippi Association.
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