It has been confirmed. Cowboy, a.k.a. Sarge... was the man found deceased near the Cumberland River in Nashville on March 4, 2015.
His real name was Randall Allen White. Ironically, he was found just a couple of days after my friend and I went to check on him during the cold weather streak that broke out in February. We were there to offer him a ride to a shelter to stay warm. When we arrived, his camp was already burned to the ground and someone had spray painted RIP on the side of his supply tent.
I will always remember Sarge as a Desert Storm Veteran who left his wife because he did not want to put her through the Post Traumatic Stress he was going through after losing his best friend in a time of war in the early 1990's. He was only 53 when he died this year. He was a kind man.
Nashville Police: "The skeletal remains found on March 4th at a homeless campsite near 500 Cowan Street have been forensically identified as those of Randall Allen White (also known as Cowboy), 53, who lived there."
"The human remains and part of the campsite were damaged by what appeared to have been a large fire, the source of which has not been determined. White had accumulated numerous and various aerosol cans at the site and, according to an acquaintance, was known to start a fire at night in a makeshift oven near his bed. It is unclear whether those issues factored into his death. The continuing examination of the skeletal remains has not revealed any evidence of foul play to this point."