A party of eight from Tallahassee, FL, had traveled up to Reelfoot Lake for a duck hunting trip planned months in advance. They stayed at the Cypress Point Resort, located on the southern shore of the lake. Featured in this group were Steve Gunn, 50, his son Grayson Gunn, 12, and Steve’s brother-in-law Jamie Hall, 47. Before the hunters settled in for the night, they went out to eat dinner. Jamie Facetimed his son, Michael Gunn-Hall, to tell him how much fun they were having in Tennessee. He expressed how excited he was about their next planned hunting trip in South Carolina with his youngest son Jay. Jamie then joined Steve and Grayson at their hotel to get some sleep. The remaining members of the hunting party decided to watch the storms roll in at the resort’s clubhouse nearby.
According to a December 15, 2021, article by cbs58.com, notifications on their cell phones suddenly alerted the group of the pending danger. When the tornado arrived, people at the clubhouse took shelter in a bathroom stall. Parents shielded the bodies of the children as the twister ripped at everything around them. When the winds subsided, the stall was the only thing left standing.
Back at the resort hotel, the upstairs floor where Steve, Grayson, and Jamie were sleeping was gone. The father and son were found the next day amongst the rubble of the building they were in, with Jamie nowhere to be found.
The remaining members of the hunting party, horrified by what took place, began the long, painful search for Jamie. Upon hearing the news, his son, Michael, and his wife drove 13 hours to the resort to join the search. Friends, family, law enforcement, and volunteers were desperate and hopeful of finding Jamie still alive. At the same time, Jamie’s daughter, Ashleigh, frantically began spreading awareness of her missing father on social media, begging for help. Four days into the search, only turned up a signature black and brown croc Jamie was wearing the night of his disappearance. “And now, it’s been day four, and I’ve just lost so much hope,” Ashleigh mourned in a December 13, 2021, article by People. Jamie’s wife, Nina, expressed on Facebook that she couldn’t lose hope, believing that her husband was still alive, would be found and would return home.
After six days of the search party working tirelessly, Michael had gone home just before the sun went down when he received the call. “We found him,” a sheriff’s deputy told him. Law enforcement found Jamie’s body in Reelfoot Lake near the resort.
Loved ones remember Steve, Grayson, and Jamie as “just big-hearted, southern, country people; giving people who would give you the shirt off their back,” described a family friend, Tyler Lee. Sandy remembered her brother Steve as a hard-working man who could do anything with his hands and never turned away an opportunity to help a friend. In a December 17, 2021, article by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Sandy said he “could build a house out of a matchbox.” Sandy continued, “He’s totally a self-made man. We grew up so poor.” Friends remember Steve as a jokester who knew everyone. As a family man, loved ones recalled that Steve couldn’t help but to brag and express how proud he was of his children, who he adored so much. The Gunn’s adopted Grayson as a baby and were teaching him how to be a man. “He was such a respectful kid,” Sandy said. Steve influenced his son to outwork adult men and to have a strong work ethic. They would go fishing and play baseball together as both father and son and as best friends. The Gunn family is survived by Steve’s wife, daughter, and granddaughter, born a month before his death, whom he was ready to meet.
In a December 17, 2021, article by the Tallahassee Democrat, Michael described his father. “He was the greatest man I’ve ever known,” Michael said before clearing his throat. “He taught us to be a lion to everyone else and a lamb to your family and to always put God first.” Ashleigh described her father as always having a smile on his face, bringing cheer and laughter into the room. Jamie had been working as a mortgage loan officer at Prime Meridian Bank, coached high school football and track and field, and was a prayer and worship leader at his church. Jamie is survived by his wife and five children.
Ahead of the funeral, the family said they were having trouble finding a venue that could hold the expected number of attendees because so many people respected their three loved ones.