As used in this part unless the context otherwise requires, an 'absentee' is:(1) Any person serving in or with the armed forces of the United States, in or with the Red Cross, in or with the merchant marines or otherwise, during any period of time when a state of hostilities exists between the United States and any other power and for one (1) year thereafter, who has been reported or listed as missing in action, interned in a neutral country, beleaguered, besieged or captured by the enemy; and(2) Any resident of this state, or any person owning property in this state, who disappears under circumstances indicating that the person may have died, either naturally, accidentally or at the hand of another, or may have disappeared as the result of mental derangement, amnesia or other mental cause.Acts 1972, ch. 785, § 1; T.C.A., § 30-1901.
Tennessee Legal Code