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Anti-vaccine doctor Jeff Bradstreet was found dead in an apparent suicide in North Carolina, officials said.

The Rutherford County Sherriff's Office said in a news release issued this week that Bradstreet died of what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.

He was found in a river in the Rocky Broad River in Chimney Rock on June 19 by a fisherman.

“The case is still under investigation,” the news release said.

His family is raising funds online to investigate his death, the Associated Press reported.

Bradstreet ran a clinic in Buford, Georgia, and published autism research based on the claim that vaccines cause autism, the AP said.

The Gwinnett Daily Post in Georgia reported that U.S. Food and Drug Administration agents searched Bradstreet’s clinic on Monday, citing multiple law enforcement officials. That report could not immediately be verified by NBC News.