Peabody interim clerk missing
Staff writer
A convicted financial felon, delinquent in his restitution, who rose from dogcatcher to interim city clerk amid mass firings and resignations in Peabody, is now missing, according to his council member husband, the Record learned Thursday.
Jonathan Clayton’s term as interim clerk recently was extended after a woman hired to fill a vacancy created by Jylle Wilson’s firing changed her mind about taking the job.
Clayton was reported missing Saturday. His description was posted this week on the Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s “missing persons” web page.
Jonathan Clayton
A special meeting of Peabody City Council is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday. The only item on the agenda is an executive session to discuss personnel.
Clayton was appointed June 3 after city council members fired Wilson.
He pleaded guilty Dec. 13, 2016, in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, to forgery, theft, and conspiracy to commit theft.
He was sentenced March 13, 2018, to five years’ probation and placed under house arrest, permitted to go to work and religious services and to perform community service.
He was ordered to pay $210,000 restitution at $600 a month. As of last month, he still owed $195,712.50.
Peabody treasurer Rayna Crawford confirmed Thursday that Clayton hadn’t been in the office “for a couple days.”
Asked whether his city computer was checked to see whether any money was missing, she said she would refer the Record to Clayton’s supervisor.
Asked for the name of the supervisor, Crawford said she did not know.
Pressed, she put the reporter on hold, then returned to the line and said she had nothing further to say.
Mayor Catherine Weems has not responded to an email asking whether city money might be missing or whether the computer Clayton used had been accessed to check.
Callers to the Record have suggested that the password on the computer was changed and other officials could not access it.
Peabody Police Chief Philip Crom said Clayton’s husband, Christopher King, reported Clayton missing Saturday.
Crom’s report, dated Monday, says Clayton was last seen at 2:21 p.m. Saturday.
Clayton and King have a retail store, CK Vintage, which last week was advertising a clearance sale but on Saturday posted on social media that the store would be closed “due to illness.”
Undersheriff Larry Starkey said the sheriff’s office was notified Saturday that Clayton had failed to return as expected from a trip to Newton.
Clayton is 6 feet tall, weighs 215 pounds, and has brown hair and hazel eyes.
The report lists the location of the “offense” as 610 Division Ave. in Peabody, which appraiser’s records show belongs to Clayton and King.
The report lists Clayton’s address as 300 N. Walnut St., which appraiser data indicates is owned by Peabody Housing Authority.