Bodies of missing musician, son recovered from Arkansas lake

By The Associated Press on April 10, 2023.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) – The bodies of a jam band musician and his adult son were recovered from an Arkansas lake more than three weeks after the two went missing during a kayaking trip, authorities said.

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday that the bodies were identified as those of Chuck Morris, 47, and his 20-year-old son, Charley Morris. Chuck Morris was a percussionist who for more than two decades had been a member of the instrumental jam band Lotus.

The father and son from Kansas City, Missouri, were last seen on March 16 while on a kayaking trip to Beaver Lake, The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. A search crew found their bodies over the weekend while searching the lake with an underwater drone, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

Lotus posted a statement from the Morris family on its Facebook page saying relatives had spoken with Arkansas authorities and were told the men drowned.

A Facebook statement from the band said proceeds from upcoming concerts in Denver; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Port Chester, New York, will go to benefit the Morris family.

“Thank you all for the outpouring of support from around the world – we feel it and love you just as much,” the band posted.