Body and Car Found by Indiana State Police Confirmed to Be Man Missing Since December

For more than a month, law enforcement officials and other agencies have been searching for an Indiana man after he and his car went missing in December.

Reported Missing

47-year-old Kenneth Brian Colbert of Evansville was first reported missing in December after he failed to return home from his job in Gibson County. Evansville Police said an official missing persons report was filed on December 10, 2022. According to EPD, Colbert was described as a 5-foot, ten-inch tall black man with a slender build. Not only was Colbert missing, but so was his plum-colored Toyota Avalon. He has last been seen leaving the home of a coworker's home in Princeton on December 9th.

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National Attention

As the days stretched into weeks, the case of Kenneth Brian Colbert began to garner national media attention. His family, who described Colbert as a "family man" spoke to the press, detailing their last communications with him. According to those reports, Indiana State Police had taken over the investigation and did not believe foul play to be involved.

Found in Gibson County

After more than a month, the search for missing Kenneth Brian Colbert, and his vehicle, have come to an end. A Toyota Avalon matching the description of Colbert's was located by Indiana State Police on January 20th. Inside was the body of a male who was later identified by the Gibson County Coroner to be Kenneth Brian Colbert. In a post on Facebook, Indiana State Police Sergent Todd Ringle shared what authorities believe took place on December 9th.

Indiana State Police believe that sometime during the evening on December 9th, Colbert was traveling south on Old US 41 south of CR 150 South when he drove left of center, left the roadway on the east side, dropped down into a deep ravine, overturned, and entered Pigeon Creek near the bridge. Anyone traveling on Old US 41 would not have been able to see the vehicle. Detectives also believe that when the creek level increased due to recent rainfall, the vehicle moved under the bridge making it even more difficult to spot.

Authorities say an autopsy has been conducted but they have not yet released those results to the public.