Adam White with his family.
Family photo via Lorelle Podchalski
A 39-year-old man whose body was found at an abandoned power plant in Fort Worth was an Air Force veteran and a loving, devoted father, his friends said.
Lorelle Podchalski, a friend who had known Adam White since 2023, described him as an extremely intelligent man with a great sense of humor. “He lit up a room everywhere he was,” she said in a conversation with the Star-Telegram.
White was last seen in the 400 block of West Belknap Street on June 1, when a missing person report was filed, police have said. He was going to the Tarrant County court that day to seek custody of his 5-year-old son, Podchalski said.
More than a month later, two teenagers exploring the abandoned plant in the 400 block of North Main Street found his body about 10 feet down inside a pipe on Aug. 19, the Star-Telegram previously reported. The location was about a half-mile from where White was last seen.
‘A family man to his core’
White and Podchalski met when they both were in a program called Greenhouse, where White shared his story of sobriety to inspire others, she said.
“He would help anybody in the world, even if he didn’t have the means,” Podchalski said, adding that White would reach out if he needed help himself.
“He was a beacon. His smile was so infectious that he lit up every room he walked into,” she said. “We all lost a really good person.”
Podchalski shared that White’s life revolved around his family, especially his son and father. “If you talked to Adam, there wasn’t a conversation where he didn’t bring up his dad,” she said.
White, an Air Force veteran, was also proud of his military service, she said.
“He didn’t have a mean bone in his body, just smiles, laughter, and grace,” Podchalski said.
With an engineer’s mind, White loved building things with his son and taking him on adventures. “He was someone who wanted to make memories with his son, and that’s what he did,” Podchalski said.
“When you talk about a family man to his core, that was him,” she said.
Unanswered questions
“When we talk about what happened that day, I wish I could speak to it, but I can’t,” Podchalski said.
Podchalski said White had his life back on track enough to be in front of a judge and possibly have custody of his child. “So to leave the courthouse and end up in a pipe is bizarre,” she said.
“I think that the fact he was gone so long probably influences how much they (law enforcement) can and cannot figure out,” she said.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office has yet to determine White’s official cause of death, but according to Fort Worth police, detectives do not suspect foul play.
The Tarrant County Community College District has owned the abandoned power plant property since 2004.
The investigation is ongoing, Fort Worth police said.
Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Shambhavi covers crime, law enforcement and other breaking news in Fort Worth and Tarrant County. She graduated from the University of North Texas and previously covered a variety of general assignment topics in West Texas. She grew up in Nepal.