wbir.com-It
has been about a year since the body of Joshua Bateman was located
in a tote bag off Paw Paw Plains Road. Detectives are still
investigating.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — It
has been nearly a year since Joshua
Bateman was located in a blue tote bag in a
remote area of Roane County. A year, and still no answers.
That's the part Joshua's father, Anthony, is so frustrated
about.
Joshua Bateman was found dead
on January 2, 2022, on Paw Paw Plains Road on the border of Loudon
and Roane Counties. According to the case report, the property owner
was walking along the road looking at a few properties he owns, when
he stumbled across a blue tote bag. The case report notes the tote
bag was covered with a deflated air mattress.
"He removed the lid of the tote and discovered a human body
inside," the case report said.
It also said Joshua's body was stuffed into the bag in a
"frog-leg position."
"Bateman had several distinctive tattoos and a wallet that helped with identification," said Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Boduch, back in February.
However, it wasn't until weeks later that Joshua's father said
he was notified.
"This was a really tough thing for me to handle," said Anthony.
The father and son hadn't spoken in years. Anthony said the last
he heard from his son was when Joshua lost custody of his
children.
"He called me up. He says, 'Dad, I lost my parental rights.' And
then that was the last time I ever talked to him, or that I ever
saw him," Anthony said.
Anthony said his son loved his children.
"He said I never felt love like this before. And of course, he
was referring to his children," Anthony said.
Anthony feels that was when his son's life started to change.
Joshua's body underwent a toxicology report, after being found
in the tote. The report came up positive for ethanol (alcohol),
benzoylecgonine, cocaine, fentanyl and other drugs.
"He was doing some pretty heavy stuff. But, let the chips fall
where they may. He's gone," Anthony said.
This dad understands the possibility of an overdose is not off
the table. But, the question remains — how did Joshua get inside
the tote bag?
"I think something's really odd. I mean even the doctor told me
it was kind a odd to him to be in that tote," Anthony said.
The medical examiner ruled Joshua's cause of death as
"undetermined."
The Roane County Sheriff's Office said they are investigating
the case like a homicide. They declined to comment because it is
an open investigation, and any information to the public could
jeopardize the progress of the case.
Anthony said he has called the sheriff's office several
times. He said he is not going to stop questioning and
pressing for answers until detectives figure out what
happened to his son.
"I tried in so many different ways to try to investigate
this myself. And you can only get so far," he said. "I just
want to know, what killed him."
If you have any information that could help bring this
father closure, please contact the Roane County Sheriff's
Office at (865) 376-5582.