Kansas law enforcement was investigating on Sunday a fatal crash involving a pickup truck belonging to Jonathan L. Clayton, the missing interim Peabody city clerk and former Kansas Department of Commerce official under investigation over suspicions he embezzled federal pandemic relief funds.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in a statement that the Harvey County Sheriff’s Office received a call at approximately 2:45 p.m. Sunday from a property owner who found a 2011 Chevy Silverado crashed on his property. The KBI said the vehicle was registered to Clayton.
A “deceased male body” was found inside the vehicle when deputies responded. The KBI said a “positive identification remains pending” and that an autopsy will be performed.
“Investigators suspect the vehicle was driven off the road, where it crashed into a tree,” the KBI said.
No other details about the circumstances of the crash were released. The KBI, Harvey County Sheriff’s Office and Kansas Highway Patrol are all participating in the investigation.
Clayton, 42, was last seen Aug. 3 before he was reported missing. He had been working as the interim Peabody city clerk when news of past felony convictions in Pennsylvania had begun to spread locally and his handling of American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funds came under increased scrutiny.
Clayton previously pleaded guilty to theft and forgery in Pennsylvania stemming from his misuse of an employer’s credit cards to bolster his and his partner’s fledgling theater company. He was sentenced in 2018 to five years probation and was ordered to pay $210,000 in restitution.
In Kansas, Clayton had worked as director of economic recovery at the Kansas Department of Commerce, a position that involved overseeing programs involving millions in federal pandemic aid. The agency has said it didn’t know about his felony convictions when it hired him, originally as a regional project manager.
More recently, grants overseen by Clayton in Peabody and Mullinville had come under scrutiny.
The Kansas Department of Commerce earlier this month went to court to obtain a temporary restraining order preventing the Mullinville Community Foundation from spending roughly $211,000 in grant funding.
“KDOC has been advised that Defendant’s secretary treasurer is the subject of a missing person report and has been alleged to have embezzled funds from Defendant,” the affidavit said.
Clayton disappeared the same day that he and his husband were served in a debt collection lawsuit, according to court documents. Newton Medical Center is suing the couple, seeking $335.95 plus interest, one of what his husband, Christopher King, described in a previous interview as several surprise unpaid bills that have surfaced since Clayton’s disappearance.
Clayton had been listed on the KBI’s missing person’s page. As of Sunday night, his page was no longer listed.
The Wichita Eagle’s Chance Swaim contributed reporting.
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