Jim Simmon’s waterlogged body was found on in a sand pit more than 20 miles from his home. He was last seen wearing his Houston Astros Cap, pictured
The former editor of the Houston Chronicle was found dead on Tuesday after going missing in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey two weeks ago.
Jim Simmon’s waterlogged body was found on in a sand pit more than 20 miles from his home.
Police believed the 63-year-old, who was diagnosed last year with dementia, drowned in the flood water, according to the Chronicle.
His body was found by a man in Fort Bend County who was out looking for cattle.
The father-of-two was last seen on August 30 when he left home in a Houston Astros cap to get a coffee at his favorite shop down the street.
Six hours later he called his son Luke Simmon, who he lived with, and said he was lost and and at the Fort Bend Aquatic Center roughly 20 miles away from home.
Luke told him to wait there, but by the time he arrived his father was nowhere to be found.
Jim’s family searched for him for two weeks through shelters and online forums.
Police believed the 63-year-old, who was diagnosed last year with dementia, drowned in the flood water
Once, his ex-wife Jamie Kaelin said they were called o the hospital to identify a man in the intensive care unit, but it turned out to be someone else.
Kaelin said that even though they hadn’t heard from him in weeks, the family didn’t expect this outcome as he was still an avid runner and in perfect shape.
‘We had lead after lead,’ Kaelin told the Chronicle.
‘I just kept thinking we were going to find him.’
After the news of his death spread his family, friends and former colleagues all remembered him fondly.
‘Jim Simmon, my friend, my former editor, fellow product of 1954, fellow kayaker, an irascible blessing to Texas who could say a funny lot with a grunt and write like a Hunter S Thompson of the Gulf Coast,’ his longtime friend Alan Bernstein wrote online.
He continued: ‘[Jim] is lost to us now on a permanent basis, and, I hope, is enjoying perpetual roots music in another sphere.’
The father-of-two was last seen on August 30 when he left home in a Houston Astros cap to get a coffee at his favorite shop down the street. he is pictured lounging in a Hammock, years before his death
Jim got into Journalism after he finished his master’s degree at Ameircan University in Washington, DC. His longtime friend Alan Bernstein described him as ‘gruff and funny’ and a great editor
Bernstein said that Jim, who is originally from Louisiana, was gruff and funny, and got into journalism after finishing his master’s at American University in Washington, DC.
He described his friend as a ‘little big of James Dean, a little bit of Jack Kerouac.’
The Chronicle’s Senior Editor Tony Freemantle said everyone at the paper is saddened by the news of their former colleague.
‘We remember him for his sharp wit, his commitment to facts and the truth, and his dedication to holding those in power accountable,’ Freemantle said.
‘He was a very good man. Our thoughts are with his family and his many friends.’