Private Chef’s Body Found After Disappearing While Walking His Dogs

A 31-year-old private chef from Texas who vanished during a morning walk with his dogs in Alabama has been found dead nearly a week after he went missing, according to authorities and family members.

Xavier Calvin Chambers’ body was discovered on Thursday, October 16, near the 9500 block of Madison Boulevard in Huntsville. Huntsville Police said they launched a targeted search that morning around 11 a.m. with multiple agencies. A team located a body during the search, which was later confirmed to be Chambers.

Chambers, who lived in Austin, had recently traveled to Huntsville with his mother to help his sister move into a new apartment. The trip was supposed to mark a fresh chapter for their family.

On Friday, October 10, Chambers took his two dogs out for a walk without leashes. Hours later, one of the dogs returned home alone. Concerned, his mother reported him missing. Around the same time, police received multiple reports of a naked man running along the road with two dogs before disappearing into nearby woods.

Authorities quickly issued a “Missing and Endangered Person Alert,” noting that Chambers might have a condition that could impair his judgment. His mother later told reporters that he’d briefly gone missing before while walking the dogs, but nothing like this had ever happened.

“The fact that he was on a walk with dogs, and we have them but we don’t have him, is very unsettling,” his sister Dawnette Chambers told WAAY in the days after his disappearance. One of the dogs was found by police during their search in the wooded area, but Xavier remained missing.

For nearly a week, law enforcement and volunteers conducted extensive searches, following multiple leads. On October 16, those efforts came to a heartbreaking end. Chambers’ death is under investigation, but authorities say no foul play is suspected.

Dr. Tyler Berryhill, the Madison County coroner, confirmed that a preliminary autopsy showed no signs of foul play. Additional studies are underway to determine the official cause of death.

“It’s a devastating result, not the result we wanted, but we did want resolution,” family friend Patrice Thomas Conwell told WAAY. Chambers’ mother, she added, is in disbelief.

Dawnette remembered her brother as a talented and determined chef who owned his own catering business in Austin. “I just saw him thrive,” she said. “Whenever he put his mind to something, he committed to that.”