KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Frank Ancona, 51, an outspoken member and imperial grand wizard of the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, was found dead along a Missouri river on Saturday, according to Washington County Sheriff Zach Jacobsen and the Kansas City Star.
An autopsy released Sunday confirmed that he died of a single gunshot wound to the head.
Ancona had been missing for days. His wife, Malissa, said he’d been missing since Thursday morning, when he left to make a parts delivery on the other side of the state. She said his place of employment called her after he failed to show up to work.
The same day, she posted a Facebook update inquiring about a roommate for Ancona. Malissa said she’d written the status ahead of an expected divorce, which Ancona said he’d initiate after he returned from his work trip.
On Thursday, a Forestry Service employee found Ancona’s car abandoned on a fire road in Potosi.
Leadwood Police Chief William Dickey told the Daily Journal that Ancona failed to contact his work or his family members after leaving for work, which was unusual. His employer confirmed to Dickey that it had not asked him to deliver a part across the state.
Officers who could not get in contact with Malissa visited her home, where they found her and her son in the driveway. After investigating, officers found that Ancona’s safe had been broken into and emptied, likely with a crowbar or other pry device, and that almost all of Ancona’s guns were missing. (The weapon he carried daily, however, was still at the residence; Malissa reportedly turned it over to officers.)
The investigation is ongoing, but police said they may make an arrest as early as Monday.
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