On Tuesday, August 8, 47-year-old Texas pastor Phillip Loveday was found dead inside a truck on South Staples Street, in the area of Texas Highway 286. The pastor, who was also employed at oil company Kinder Morgan, had reportedly been missing since August 2 and was found with a gunshot wound. However, authorities have ruled out foul play, leading outlets to speculate that the pastor committed suicide.

Phillip Loveday was best known as the senior pastor at Faith Christian Center in Freer, Texas. Investigators have not confirmed how long he was dead, but their estimates suggest that it could have been for more than a day. The case currently remains under investigation by local authorities.

The timeline of Phillip Loveday's disappearance

Phillip Loveday's family said that at 9:30 am on August 2, the 47-year-old pastor said he was leaving for work in a Kinder Morgan company truck. His wife, Melea Loveday, discovered soon after that the pastor had missed both work and Church. They also realized that the deceased had left his phone at home.

One of Loveday's daughters, Kayleigh Purnell, said that this was when the family began to get concerned.

Purnell said:

"He would definitely always just answer back, so that was, right off the bat, very suspicious. It was just, ‘Oh why didn’t he answer?’ That never ever happens.’”

Local authorities searched the area for signs of Phillip Loveday for six days. The pastor's body was reportedly discovered at 2:55 pm on Tuesday, as Kleberg County deputy David Farias searched the area by South Texas Botanical Gardens.

Farias said:

"We had some basic discussions on looking for him and what we could do starting from the home. I left today headed to work and the first thing I did was check the creek area, Oso Creek."

Farias continued:

"I was gonna go on to County Road 43 and before I got there, I noticed the barn and it's all grown over, there's a lot of brush there so I said, let me take this off my list and clear it. I drove up halfway up the driveway and saw there was a vehicle and with the binoculars, I was able to confirm it was Mr. Loveday’s truck."

According to David Cook, Chief Deputy of the Nueces County Sheriff's Department, several law enforcement agencies arrived at the scene to confirm the victim's identity.

Emily Massey, a Church member at Faith Christian Center, said that he had been a major figure in upholding the spirit and values of their community.

Massey said:

"He was the one who kept us going. When we were hurting, he was hurting as well. He was our shepherd, and now we’re a flock missing our shepherd.”

The case currently remains under police investigation.

Quick Links

More from Sportskeeda

" modalPopup.closeOnEsc = false; modalPopup.setHeader("Why did you not like this content?"); modalPopup.setContentText(modalText); modalPopup.addCancelOkButton("Submit", resetRatingAndFeedbackForm, sendRating); modalPopup.removeCloseModalIcon(); modalPopup.disableDismissPopup(); modalPopup.open(); } else { sendRating(index); } } function sendRating() { var requestPayload = { "post_id": 1623855, "rating_value": ratingValue } if (ratingValue > 3) { requestPayload.rating_feedback_type = null; requestPayload.rating_feedback = null; } else { if (!$('input[name="drone"]:checked') || !$('input[name="drone"]:checked').value) { showErrorMessage('option'); return; } if (!$(".post-rating-feedback-note textarea") || !$(".post-rating-feedback-note textarea").value) { showErrorMessage('note'); return; } var selectedOption = $('input[name="drone"]:checked').value; var feedbackNote = $(".post-rating-feedback-note textarea").value; requestPayload.rating_feedback_type = selectedOption; requestPayload.rating_feedback = feedbackNote; } pureJSAjaxPost(addratingAPI, requestPayload, onsaveRatingSuccess, onsaveRatingFail, function() {}, true); } function resetRatingAndFeedbackForm() { var activeStars = Array.from($all('.rating span.rating-star.active')); for (var i=0; i < activeStars.length; i++) { activeStars[i].classList.remove("active"); } if ($('input[name="drone"]:checked')) { $('input[name="drone"]:checked').checked = false; } var userNote = document.querySelector(".post-rating-feedback-note textarea"); userNote.value = ''; modalPopup.close(); } function onsaveRatingSuccess() { modalPopup.close(); savePostIdInUserRatedPostsCookie(); $("#post-rating-layout").classList.add("hidden"); $("#post-rating-message").classList.remove("hidden"); window.setInterval(function showMessage() { $("#post-rating-widget").classList.add("hidden"); }, 3000); } function onsaveRatingFail() { console.error('Saving post rating failed!'); modalPopup.close(); } function savePostIdInUserRatedPostsCookie() { userRatedPostIds.push(1623855); var expiryTime = new Date(); expiryTime.setMonth(expiryTime.getMonth() + 12); // Expiry after 1 year setCookie("user_rated_post_ids", JSON.stringify(userRatedPostIds), expiryTime); } function isPostRatedByUser() { var userRatedPostIds = getCookie('user_rated_post_ids'); if (userRatedPostIds) { try { userRatedPostIds = JSON.parse(userRatedPostIds); } catch (err) { console.error(err); return false; } } else { return false; } if(userRatedPostIds.indexOf(1623855) >= 0) { return true; } else { return false; } } function getRatingCountByPostId(postId) { return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) { pureJSAjaxGet( getRatingCountBaseURL + postId + '/rating/count', function(data) { try { data = JSON.parse(data); if (data.meta_value) { resolve(data.meta_value); } reject("Failed to fetch rating count for the post:" + postId); } catch (err) { reject("Failed to fetch rating count for the post:" + postId); } }, function(err) { reject("Failed to fetch rating count for the post:" + postId); }, true); }); } function showErrorMessage(messageType) { var messageContainerId = '#' + messageType + '-error'; $(messageContainerId).classList.remove('hidden'); window.setInterval(function () { $(messageContainerId).classList.add("hidden"); }, 5000); } (function() { var callFired = false; function lazyLoadPostRating() { if (callFired) return; callFired = true; if (!isPostRatedByUser()) { getRatingCountByPostId(1623855) .then(function(ratingCount) { if (ratingCount < 10) { $("#post-rating-widget").classList.remove("hidden"); } }) .catch(function(err){ console.error(err); }); } } document.addEventListener("scroll", lazyLoadPostRating, { passive: true, once: true }); document.addEventListener("mousemove", lazyLoadPostRating, { passive: true, once: true }); document.addEventListener("touchmove", lazyLoadPostRating, { passive: true, once: true }); })();

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tLzOq6uso5WasaJ6wqikaKifpXqkwcutrKudX6OyuL%2BMsJ%2BarF2drrG8xKecnWWgnbatuMipZKWnppqxosWMn5imoZyueq671KulrGWdnsC0tc2gZK2dqJbAbrzArKuoql2bvLa6w2abnpmUYsGzwcKk