Science
Thomson Reuters
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Commander Timothy Cunningham, a rising star at the federal agency, went mysteriously missing on February 12, 2018.
- Police say his body was recovered from an Atlanta river on Tuesday, more than six weeks after he disappeared.
- It's still not clear what happened to Cunningham, but previously the police said they didn't suspect foul play in the case.
The mystery surrounding the February disappearance of 35-year-old CDC Commander Timothy Cunningham ended tragically this week, when the Atlanta Fire Rescue found his body in a river late Tuesday evening.
The Atlanta Police Department confirmed to Business Insider that Cunningham's body was recovered in the Chattahoochee River in northwest Atlanta.
Cunningham left work at the CDC feeling sick on February 12, then tried to call his mom on his drive home, but hadn't been heard from since then. Atlanta Police Department Timothy Cunningham
Atlanta Police Department Major Michael O'Connor said in February that Cunningham had recently been turned down for a promotion at work, and left feeling ill shortly after his supervisor explained why he'd been passed over.
Cunningham drove off that day and was never seen again. But his car, credit and debit cards, dog, keys, and cell phone were all recovered at his home, police said, making the disappearance troublingly eerie.
Cunningham's father told The New York Times that he'd been worried about his son recently because he didn't seem like his usual self in conversation. His sister, Tiara Cunningham, the last family member who spoke with Cunningham before he disappeared, said she felt lost without her brother.
"I feel like I'm in a horrible 'Black Mirror' episode," she told the Times.
Friends also found the disappearance troublingly out of character.
"He has this pristine service record and background," Cunningham's friend David Calloway told NBC.
Cunningham had an impressive career in public health, and the Atlanta Business Chronicle named him one of 2017's "40 under 40." He held a master's and a doctorate from Harvard's School of Public Health.
At the CDC, Cunningham was a team leader and researched health differences related to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, and geography. The agency said he was an excellent officer and employee who'd recieved an early promotion to Commander last July.
On March 12, exactly one month after Cunningham went missing, the CDC's Acting Director Anne Schuchat released a statement saying the agency had not given up hope that he would be found alive.
"If Tim reads this message, we hope you come home soon," she wrote.
The agency said he'd been deployed to work on numerous public-health emergencies, including Superstorm Sandy, the Ebola outbreak, and the Zika outbreak.