Since Luke Michael Butler went missing in October 2019, investigators and family members have been searching for answers surrounding his disappearance.

In 2022, Monroe County Sheriff Tommy Jones said they found Butler’s skull near the woods around Rocky Springs Road.

Jones says another search team combed through that same area Saturday and found what they believe to be more of Butler’s remains, including a shoe that his sister, Harmony Garcia, said belonged to her brother. “It’s been a tough three or four years for my family,” said Garcia. The remains were sent to the Regional Forensics Center in Knoxville.

Butler, who left behind four children of his own, used to interact with Garcia’s children on a regular basis. “He would go out there and play with the kids, and he took my boys hunting and taught them how to hunt. He was a good person,” said Garcia.

While Sheriff Jones said they’re continuing to investigate the death as a homicide, they’re not ruling anything out as they continue to search for details around Butler’s disappearance.

If you have any information, you’re asked to contact the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

Edward Ahrens, who was a suspect in a Knox County kidnapping, was shot 16 times after police confronted him last month, according to an autopsy report obtained by WVLT News.

Ahrens was the subject of a multi-agency investigation after an 11-year-old went missing out of Knox County. During the investigation, the girl was listed on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s endangered child list.

According to the TBI, investigators with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, in cooperation with Catoosa County, GA investigators and East Ridge and GA Police Department officers stopped Ahrens on I-75 just across the Georgia line on February 2nd.

During the stop, Ahrens, who was listed on the Georgia Sex Offender Registry, reportedly rammed several cruisers, giving three KCSO deputies minor injuries, prompting officers to fire on him.

The autopsy report lists Ahren’s cause of death as “multiple gunshot wounds.” The girl was found in his custody inside Ahren’s car, but rescued safely. Story courtesy of WVLT

A fisherman on Norris Lake with a very unusual catch.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency says an alligator was caught yesterday (Monday) afternoon after an angler called authorities after he caught the gator in Dotson Creek, also known as Butcher Hollow.

TWRA says it’s illegal to possess an alligator in Tennessee and releasing them into the wild poses safety and biological threats to humans and the ecosystem.

While the origin of the alligator is unclear, TWRA officials say it is evident that it was being illegally held in captivity and possibly released into Norris Lake.

TWRA took the gator to Little Ponderosa Zoo and Rescue in Anderson County.