Body of 50-year-old Lebanon Junction man pulled from floodwaters in Bullitt County

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The body of a 50-year-old Bullitt County man was recovered from floodwaters Tuesday.

That's according to Bullitt County Coroner Dave Billings, who said James Dishon Jr. was found dead just before noon in Lebanon Junction.

Billings said Dishon had drowned, but it's unclear when. He had last been seen by family members late Saturday evening.

In a Facebook post Tuesday afternoon, Church of God Prophecy Kentucky State Office said Dishon's truck was found submerged in floodwater.

A witness told WDRB his body was found less than 50 yards from his truck, off Lee Booth Road and State Road 61.

Neighbors said Dishon had been driving in the area for years, having traveled down Lee Booth Road about a thousand times. His truck, they said, had sat there for three days. But it took two days for police to find him.

Jim Stark lives near where Dishon was found. Like his neighbors, his home is surrounded by floodwaters. For the past two days, he watched as emergency workers, police, and others searched the area for Dishon. With deep water and a swift current, the belief is that Dishon tried to drive through high water and was overcome, so he got out of his truck and tried walking. But no one knows exactly how Dishon got out of his truck or when.

"I said, there's something down there by my driveway. You might want to check it out, cause I (wasn't) close to it. I couldn't tell what it was," said Stark. "So they went out and walked around, and there he was, but (there's) a culvert right there. So if he got out of his truck and walked, to try to, you know, get the heck out of here, the culvert is, you know, 3- or 4-feet deep."

Pastor Tina Lord, with Church of God of Prophecy, said Dishon was warned by his dad to stay in town.

"Well I know he had talked to his dad and his dad told him, said now it's flooded over there. Don't you go home. We're at your sister's so don't go home. And he said OK. So the next thing we know, they found his truck and they couldn't find him, and he wasn't answering his phone," Lord said.

Lord said Dishon was not a regular at the church, but attended when it was important or when asked by the right person.

"His granddaughter asked him to church a few weeks ago, and he came to church. It's been a while since he'd been to church, and he came with her because, you know, when kids ask you, when your little granddaughter's looking at you and says 'come to church,' you're, you know, you're going to do it," said Lord.

Lord was with Dishon's parents when his body was found.

"They're devastated," Lord said. "We were praying for a different outcome, but, you know, in our gut we felt like maybe it wasn't going to be that good. But we were hoping. We had hope. We had faith. We were leaning on our faith and, you know, trusting. But it didn't turn out the way we had hoped."

Dishon's death marks the fifth in the state of Kentucky related to ongoing historic flooding across the state. Gov. Andy Beshear confirmed the fourth death, a 74-year-old Nelson County woman, Monday.

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