Henderson County sheriff's investigators discovered the body of 48-year-old Gash on Saturday morning near his home at 383 South Rugby Road. Preliminary results released Tuesday from the state medical examiner's office in Chapel Hill say Gash died from "blunt force trauma to the head," said Sheriff's Department staff attorney Mose Highsmith.
Investigators also found severed human limbs Monday along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Buncombe County. Preliminary results confirm the limbs are Gash's, Highsmith said. Investigators have recovered all of the man's remains, he said. A full autopsy report will be available at a later date.
Gash was reported missing Wednesday, March 24, by a concerned friend. Officers discovered his body outside the home around 8 a.m. Saturday while conducting a health and welfare check.
Officials also are searching for Gash's wife, Gail. She was reported missing Saturday morning by the couple's 31-year-old son, Donald Edward Gash, who also lived at the South Rugby Road residence.
Police have launched a nationwide search for 50-year-old Gail Christine Hutchinson Gash, whose car was found abandoned Saturday morning at the Shaw's Creek Church cemetery about two miles from the small brick home where the couple and their son lived.
Officials have not made an arrest in the case, and detectives have "no prime suspect at this point, " Sheriff George H. Erwin Jr. said. Investigators are concerned for Mrs. Gash's safety and would like to question her about her husband's death, he said.
A community leader
Eight helmets hang in the entryway of the Etowah-Horse Shoe Fire Department on U.S. 64 West, a memorial to the eight firefighters who died while members of the all-volunteer department.
None of those men were killed in the line of duty. Most of them died from natural causes.
The ninth helmet on the wall will be different.
Sheriff's officials notified Etowah-Horse Shoe firefighters Tuesday morning the body found on South Rugby Road was that of Gash, said Assistant Fire Chief Michael Huggins.
"Basically, we lost an invaluable leader and a friend," he said. "He will be missed. That's a void in this department that will never be filled."
Gash had been a member of the department since 1980 and was elected chief this year, Huggins said. The last time firefighters saw their leader alive was March 23 at the scene of a late-night auto accident, he said.
Firefighters were told Saturday their chief was reported missing. They held out hope he was still alive until they received a phone call from authorities, Huggins said.
At the request of the Etowah-Horse Shoe Fire Department, all county fire departments lowered their flags to half-mast Tuesday in honor of Gash.
The Etowah-Horse Shoe flag has been at half-mast since Saturday and likely will remain there until the day after Gash's funeral, Huggins said.
Gash's firefighter helmet will join the others on the wall inside the department, he said. Each helmet, scuffed and worn from use, is accompanied by a plaque with the firefighter's name engraved on it.
Always a kind word
Huggins, who shared an office at the fire station with Gash, said he has not felt like being in the helmet room this week. Gash had served as a mentor for 31-year-old Huggins, who joined the department as a junior firefighter in 1986 and now is serving as its interim chief.
Gash was "one of the old timers," Huggins said. "A lot of us watched and learned from him. He led by example."
In his 24 years with the department, Gash served as a fire prevention officer, public relations contact, training officer, lieutenant, captain, assistant chief and chief, an impressive accomplishment for any firefighter, Huggins said.
The department, which holds an annual election for chief and assistant chief, first chose Gash as its leader in the mid-1990s and he was re-elected to the post multiple times. He also was active in the Henderson County Firefighter's Association, the Western North Carolina and the Western North Carolina Youth Football Association.
Firefighters remember Gash as a man who always had a kind word and a ready smile beneath the silver mustache on his tanned face.
"Donnie never met a stranger," Huggins said. "I don't know that he had any enemies. He wasn't that kind of guy."
Gash's death is shocking for the department, Huggins said. Etowah-Horse Shoe firefighters attended a counseling session Monday night and the department plans to schedule additional sessions as needed.
"This is not going to go away early," he said. "It's a tragic loss. We're going to have to deal with it and carry on in a professional manner."
Funeral arrangements have not been announced, but Etowah-Horse Shoe firefighters plan to honor him with "a full firefighter's funeral," Huggins said. During the ceremony, members of the department will present Gash's family with his helmet and his casket will travel to the cemetery on a fire truck.
Wife still missing
While detectives continue their investigation of Gash's death, officials also are working to find his wife.
"Until we find Gail Gash, it's really difficult to nail down what happened," Highsmith said.
Etowah-Horse Shoe firefighters did not know Mrs. Gash well but are concerned about her disappearance, Huggins said.
"That's something we don't understand or don't know why it happened," he said. "That's just something we're leaving up to the Sheriff's Department. In the end, we're just hoping for justice."
Mrs. Gash was last seen wearing red sweatpants, according to a missing person report. She is about 5-foot, 5-inches to 5-foot, 8-inches tall and weighs 130 pounds. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. A sheriff's report lists her as an endangered missing person.
At the time of her disappearance, Mrs. Gash was under supervised probation in Henderson County for a 2001 felony conviction in Buncombe County. According to state Department of Corrections records, Mrs. Gash was convicted Jan. 23, 2001 for six counts of obtaining property by false pretenses. She was sentenced to five years probation, supervised in Henderson County.
Anyone who has information about Gash's death or the whereabouts of his wife is asked to call the Sheriff's Department.
