A Captain with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office discovered the body of a missing man early Friday morning in West Knox County. 

Captain Brian Stannard found the body of 75 year old Jerome Lankford in a culvert off Gulf Park Road between the Peace Lutheran Church and Cedar Bluff Primary School shortly after 8:30.  It appears that Mr. Lankford had fallen down the hill into the culvert.  Investigators do not know how long the body had been there.  They have ruled out foul play.  The medical examiner has the body.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office Tracking Team was in the area this morning and had been searching since Lankford’s daughter reported him missing around noon on Tuesday from his home at 9101 Thayer Circle.  KCSO Airwatch had also been searching along with the Knox County Rescue Squad and the Knoxville Police Department’s Search and Rescue Team.