WHEATON, Minn — There is a mystery on the prairie centered on idyllic farmstead, which was for sale, and on the man who lived there, who hasn't been seen in 19 days.
"Two days before he was to sell the farm, he turned up missing," said Brock McCoy, the son of 68-year-old Terry McCoy of Wheaton, MN.
Two days before the sale of his farmstead was set to close, Terry McCoy disappeared.
Brock McCoy says his father, a nature lover, needed to move to an assisted living center, otherwise he never would have sold the land that was his sanctuary.
"He could see the ducks, geese, his pigeons out behind his house. He could see the deer come over the hill where he fed them," Brock said.
Terry McCoy was last seen on June 17th, going through many of his daily routines in the town of 1300 people.
When he disappeared, Brock says all the evidence pointed to his dad, a 6-foot, 250 pound man, being taken against his will.
"His medications, his cell phone, his wallet, his shoes. Everything was left at the farm," Brock said.
Terry McCoy's vehicles were still parked outside, and inside, Brock said, was what looked like a crime scene: pool of blood and broken rocking chair.
"There was something bad that happened. Somebody has to know something. Somebody along the way had to have seen something," Brock said. "It had to be somebody who knew him. Somebody knew that he lived alone. Somebody knew he was there at that farm at that time of night alone."
Investigators drained the duck pond behind McCoy's house and found nothing.
Several ground searches through the thick trees and miles of farm fields surrounding the home came up empty.
"This is the last thing my family needs," Brock said.
Then, moments after Brock finished this interview, a body was found in the Mustinka River about seven miles from Terry McCoy's home.
As the missing person investigation now turns into a death investigation, his family is now left with new questions that they hope someone will step forward and answer.
"We need some closure. We need to find out what happened," Brock said.
The Traverse County Sheriff and the BCA are investigating.
The Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office is performing the autopsy and making the positive identification.