From the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department:
On Saturday August 14th, 2021 around 9:30 AM the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office received a call that Tracy Tackett, the Sullivan County Coroner, had suddenly left an apartment that he shared with his then girlfriend. It was unclear on Saturday whether Tackett intended to leave town, or if he intended to cause himself harm.
Tackett had been the subject of an Indiana State Police investigation that began last Thursday; however, there were no active arrest warrants for Tackett when he left.
Being that Tackett was reported a missing person, it allowed investigators to enter both he and his vehicle into a nationwide computer database. Alerts were sent out to surrounding law enforcement agencies, and officers immediately began canvassing the county.
Investigators contacted Tackett’s local and out of town family and friends, to see if he had reached out to anyone. Sheriff Clark Cottom attempted to locate Tackett’s vehicle through GPS technology, to no avail. The Sheriff said Tackett had no cellphone in his possession when he left the residence.
On Saturday afternoon, Sheriff Cottom asked pilots at the Sullivan County Airport to be on the lookout for Tackett’s white Dodge pickup. Cottom also arranged for the Indiana State Police Aviation Section to conduct an aerial search of the county.
Throughout the weekend, Sullivan County deputies and Indiana Conservation Officers searched rural areas, including the Greene Sullivan State Forest. Conservation Officers also searched bodies of water in both Sullivan and Greene Counties.
Sheriff’s officials continued their search around-the-clock Sunday into Monday.
On Monday afternoon around 4:20 PM Sheriff Clark Cottom was searching a rural area just off CR 300 N, near CR 225 E., when he came across a white Dodge pickup similar to Tackett’s pulled into a remote area. Cottom discovered a deceased white male sitting in the driver’s seat of the vehicle. The Indiana State Police and Vigo County Coroner’s Office were immediately summoned to the scene. An autopsy was conducted at 3:00 PM Tuesday at Terre Haute Regional Hospital where the body was positively identified as Tracy Lee Tackett, age 56 of Sullivan, Indiana.
Through the course of the investigation and analysis of all the evidence presented to crime scene investigators and detectives, the evidence shows that the subject died from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Next of kin has been notified.
Investigating agencies: Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana State Police, Sullivan County Prosecutor’s Office, Indiana DNR Law Enforcement Division, Dugger Town Marshal, Vigo County Coroner’s Office, Greene County Sheriff’s Office. The Cottonwood, AZ Police Department also assisted in the investigation.