Thread by @mindgomes

Revisiting this weird/sad story from 3 years ago
usatoday.com/story/news/201…

“Timothy Cunningham, a promising official who aided the CDC in responses to Ebola and Zika outbreaks, went missing in February after leaving work early at his office in Chamblee, Ga.”

“Dr. Cunningham is an epidemiologist in the chronic disease unit at the CDC”
washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-h…

“Police said Cunningham, who was known as a jogger, was wearing his favorite jogging shoes when he was found.”

“(Cunningham) was a team lead in the Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch of CDC’s Division of Population Health. He also completed CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer program.” +

“(Cunningham’s) research has been oriented towards understanding health differences related to race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, and geography.” +

“CDR Cunningham also deployed for numerous public health emergency responses, including Superstorm Sandy, Ebola, and Zika. He served in multiple leadership roles with the Atlanta Commissioned Officers Association.”

“About a week before his disappearance, Cunningham was told by his CDC supervisor that he would not get a promotion. The explanation was given to him on Feb. 12 — the Monday he went missing.”

“The CDC did not respond to a request for an explanation.”

“Cunningham's work at the CDC fueled speculation and conspiracy theories about his disappearance, including one dubious story on a website that said Cunningham disappeared amid warnings that his patients were dying from botched flu vaccines.”

“But Cunningham worked in the CDC's chronic disease unit, not in the section that deals with infectious disease, according to authorities.
‘He had no access to classified material.’”

“a neighbor of Cunningham's, reported an odd encounter between her husband and Cunningham the day before he disappeared.
‘He told my husband to tell his wife — me — to erase his cellphone number from my cellphone’”

“Timothy J. Cunningham, 35, was promoted to commander in the United States Public Health Service in July (2017)”
nytimes.com/2018/02/24/us/…

“(Cunningham’s parents) used a spare key to enter their son’s home, where he lived alone with his dog, Mr. Bojangles, known as Bo. The dog had been left unattended, which was uncharacteristic for Commander Cunningham, Terrell Cunningham said.”

“(Cunningham) has two degrees from Harvard’s School of Public Health, according to the C.D.C.’s website.”

“Anterio Cunningham, 41, his older brother, said the disappearance ‘totally goes against not just our core principles as a family but also his personality.’”

“But although police said there were no signs of foul play, the nature of his death—“whether it was an accident, a suicide, or anything other than that”—is still uncertain, Fulton County Chief Medical Examiner Jan Gorniak told reporters”
the-scientist.com/the-nutshell/m…

“The condition of the body is ‘consistent’ with Cunningham having been in the river since he first went missing, Gorniak said. There were no signs of trauma on the body.

‘We may never be able to tell you how he got into the river’”
cnn.com/2018/05/23/hea…

“With more than 16 years of experience in public health, he'd co-authored 28 publications on topics ranging from sleep deprivation to pulmonary disease, with a special focus on how health issues affect minorities.”

“sleep deprivation”?🤔🧐

“Today marks one month since Commander (CDR) Timothy Cunningham was last seen, and we have not given up hope that he will soon be found” cdc.gov/media/releases…

“There has been news coverage that Commander Cunningham recently did not receive a promotion. As many of his colleagues in the USPHS have pointed out, this information is incorrect.”

“Over and above any of his assignments at CDC, his early promotion within the USPHS reflects his excellence as an officer and an employee.”

“But in his personal life, Cunningham struggled with his sexuality, was upset he hadn’t landed a promotion, and lived with a chronic disease, family and friends told Atlanta police.”
ajc.com/news/breaking-…

“So how did Cunningham, who knew how to swim, end up dead in the Chattahoochee River?”

“After teaching undergraduate classes at Morehouse College, Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University, Cunningham joined the CDC in 2010. At the time of his death, he was a team leader in the Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch of the CDC’s Division of Population Health.”

This is an interesting piece of information lacking from all of the other articles:

“On Feb. 7, Cunningham resigned from a special CDC team tasked with deploying to areas in need by sending an email to Commander Richard Dunville.” +

“‘I thought he sounded exasperated,’ Dunville told police. ‘In fact I would have encouraged him to stay on through June, when he would have received a service award, but he sounded too ready to leave.’” +

“The next day, Cunningham was told he didn't get a promotion he'd wanted.”

“Since Cunningham didn't get the job he'd hoped for, he was considering finding a job in Washington, D.C., in order to be closer to his parents (who live in Maryland).”

“Reed, who lives in Texas, told police Cunningham had struggled with his sexual identity, and in 2010, had had a ‘breakdown.’”

“Though he didn’t identify himself as gay, Cunningham told Reed about reconnecting with a former Morehouse classmate.” +

“In an interview with investigators, the classmate said Cunningham had come on to him in recent months. About two weeks before Cunningham’s disappearance, the man blocked his number on his cell phone.”

“Cunningham’s sister told police she knew her brother had re-connected with a classmate, but she told police he was interested in two women at work.”

“The death was later ruled a suicide by drowning after toxicology reports were completed, Gorniak (the coroner) said. Marijuana and nicotine were found in Cunningham’s body, she said.”

So, the “confused gay” card was played to explain Cunningham’s death. He also knew how to swim, not that this would prevent him from drowning, but how did he end up in the Chattahoochee River?

USPHS Commissioned Corps Ofcers Pay Respects to CDR Timothy Cunningham dcp.psc.gov/OSG/scientist/…

“If you think Cunningham served in the Navy (as I did) due to his uniform, you’d be mistaken: usphs.gov/about-us
‘The Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service (was) originally created to prevent the spread of disease from returning sailors.’”

I’m calling bullshit on this explanation of “suicide”.