The Dyer County Sheriff’s Department is still asking anyone who had contact with Karen Johnson Swift before her disappearance, recalls seeing anyone near her vehicle on Millsfield Highway on Oct. 30, or has any other information about the case to contact the Dyer County Sheriff’s Office at 731-285-2802 or 1-800-TBI-FIND.
Swift, a 44-year-old mother of four was last seen early Sunday morning, Oct. 30, by her husband at their home on Willie Johnson Road after she reportedly returned from a Halloween party. Her white 2004 Nissan Murano was later found abandoned on Sunday, Oct. 30, on Millsfield Highway near the intersection of Harness Road with a flat tire. Her body was found near Bledsoe Cemetery in Dyer County on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011.
The investigation into the murder of Karen Swift is entering its second month and Dyer County Sheriff’s investigators are still awaiting the autopsy report from the Shelby County Medical Examiner’s office. Swift’s body was found near Bledsoe Cemetery on Saturday, Dec. 10, and Dyer County Sheriff Jeff Box, as well as his investigators, the TBI and the DA’s office have been patiently waiting for the report since that time. Swift was reported missing on Oct. 30 and her body was found almost a month and a half later by a preacher and his friend. Box stated at the time, the missing-person case would take the form of a murder investigation due to the placement of the body and the apparent injuries.
Although the public is anxious to hear the results of the autopsy, the time the medical examiner’s office is taking is normal for a case such as this. In a routine autopsy, with very little decomposition, an exam would normally take two to three days before the body can be released. The final written report would normally follow within 30 to 45 days after the release of a body.