Alan White
Police hope to know cause of death soon but aren’t yet calling it murder
DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com
The Dallas County Medical Examiner has yet to determine the cause of death for Alan White, the Dallas gay man who disappeared last October and whose body was found last week. But police hope to have more information soon, according to LGBT Police Liaison Chelsea Geist.
White’s body was found near Paul Quinn College in south Dallas on May 13. A survey crew working for the college found the remains in a wooded area and called 9-1-1. White disappeared on Oct. 22.
White and his husband, Rusty Jenkins, both left their home at around 4:45 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, driving separate cars on their way to separate gyms. White was last seen leaving the L.A. Fitness gym at CityPlace around 6 a.m. He was driving a black Porsche Macan, a loaner car from Park Place Motors.
From there, surveillance video from the RaceTrac gas station on Inwood Road at Maple Avenue in Oak Lawn showed him at a pump filling the car with gas. Another video showed him exiting the station onto Inwood, going north toward his home.
But he never reached home.
White was an executive with KPMG who worked from home and was scheduled to participate in a Zoom call from home at 7:30 a.m. Jenkins filed a missing person report at 11 a.m.
Park Place Motors was unable to locate the car, even though loaner cars are normally fitted with GPS trackers. The car was found a week later about a mile from where White’s body was eventually found. At the time, police said they were waiting for results to come back from SWIFS, Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences.
“It is a very difficult and time-consuming process unfortunately,” Geist said at the time.
In addition, White’s phone was found in the car and police were waiting on warrants from Apple to unlock the phone.
Then separate warrants were required for each application on the phone. There has been no word yet from police where they were in that process or if it revealed any clues.
Until his body was found, police were not calling the case a death, but a disappearance. Throughout the investigation, however, they have been considering all possibilities.
Now, because cause of death has not yet been determined, White’s death has still not been ruled a homicide. Because of the state of decomposition, determining cause of death may be difficult, but Geist said she hopes results would be available soon that can give detectives new clues.
While the case hasn’t been officially ruled a homicide, Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for any information that leads to the arrest and indictment of a suspect in the case. In addition, a private fund has offered $20,000 for information on White’s disappearance and death.
While police are waiting for autopsy results, they are actively seeking information in the case and ask that anyone with information related to White’s death contact Detective Eric Barnes at 214-283-4818 or by email at eric.barnes@dallascityhall.com, referencing case 188623-2020.
