Body thought to be missing clerk’s found
Staff writers
An autopsy has been ordered to identify a body found Sunday in a pickup truck registered to interim Peabody city clerk Jonathan Clayton, who vanished Aug. 3 while the target of several investigations.
Kansas Highway Patrol confirmed that the body was found in a crashed pickup truck near the US-50 / I-135 interchange northeast of Newton.
State troopers were seen soon afterward in Peabody, apparently notifying Clayton’s husband, city council member Christopher King.
Clayton, a convicted financial felon promoted from dogcatcher to interim clerk after a wave of resignations and firings in Peabody, last was seen Aug. 3 in his red 2011 Chevrolet Silverado.
A farmer reportedly notified Harvey County sheriff’s deputies at 2:45 p.m. Sunday that he had found the truck in a rural field.
Kansas Bureau of Investigation, which has taken over the case, confirmed Sunday night that the truck was registered to Clayton.
According to the Highway Patrol, KBI called in members of the patrol’s critical accident reconstruction team to investigate the accident.
It was unclear Sunday night when the accident might have occurred and how long the truck and body might have remained undiscovered.
According to KBI, the truck was found in a farm field near Mile Marker 32 at the US-50/I-135 interchange.
The vehicle had been driven off the road and crashed into a tree, KBI said.
Clayton, a former director of COVID aid grants with Kansas Department of Commerce, is believed to be at the center of investigations into grant programs in Peabody and Mullinville, where he and King resided before moving to Peabody.
While Peabody officials continue to emphasize that no money has been found to be missing there, Mullinville officials have stated that $190,000 appears to be missing in their city
The Commerce Department has filed suit, asking for the return of $425,398 in grant money awarded in Mullinville and has given Peabody Main Street until Sept. 4 to complete paperwork or return $740,000 in grant money awarded there.
Commerce, where Clayton worked from February, 2020, until November, 2023, began examining grants he was involved with after it was reported that he had been sentenced in 2018 for financial felonies in Pennsylvania and still owed $195,712.50 of $210,000 in restitution he was ordered to pay.
Authorities have declined to release any further information at this time.