Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 14, 1993 TAG: 9308140198
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune
DATELINE: FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
But Friday, John Doe became James Jordan, father of the world's most famous athlete, and everybody from the FBI in North Carolina to Michael Jordan's admirers in Chicago and across the country was vitally concerned.
The Chicago Bulls' star guard and other grieving family members stayed in seclusion, while police continued to shed little light on the troubling mysteries surrounding James Jordan's disappearance and Jordan death from a gunshot to the chest.
In addition to questions surrounding his killing, there were also questions about how officials handled the case.
The body of James Jordan, found Aug. 3, was positively identified from partial dental records early Friday. Police made the connection to Jordan only because a missing Lexus 400 found in a wooded area near Fayetteville had been traced to him.
Jordan's fingerprints were not sent for evaluation when the body was found in South Carolina. His prints were on file with authorities. And his body already has been cremated - after the autopsy but before it was positively identified.
The body, recovered in South Carolina from a tributary of the Little Pee Dee River, was in bad condition. Marlboro County Coroner Tim Brown said Friday that he said he ordered the cremation Aug. 6. "It was my decision as to what to do. I had a body that was decomposing and there was no way to stop it or slow it down, and we had no leads," he said.
The coroner would not say where the ashes were, only that they were in his custody. Brown said he hoped to give them to Jordan's family in private.
The car was found Aug. 5 - stripped and gutted, with the vanity license plate UNC0023 missing.
Cumberland County, N.C., Sheriff Morris Bedsole said he was "not satisfied with the results of the initial investigation of the found vehicle" and ordered the follow-up work that led to the identification of Jordan as the owner.
The FBI entered the case because it was a possible kidnapping, a crime of federal jurisdiction. But investigators said there was no proof that there had been a kidnapping, only a car in one state and a body just over the border.
The spokesman said investigators would be searching phone and credit card records to provide clues to where Jordan might have been since he was last seen July 22 after attending a friend's funeral near Wilmington, N.C.
Jordan, who would have turned 56 on July 31, frequently joined his son on the road and even starred with him in an underwear commercial. He apparently was missing for nearly three weeks before family members grew alarmed. They did not file a missing-person report until Thursday.
Family friends said it was not unusual for him to be away several days at a time because of his business interests.
Because the creek flows into the Little Pee Dee, it is unlikely that the body traveled far, said Richard Quick, chief deputy of the Marlboro County, S.C., sheriff's office.
"We really don't know what's what at this point," Quick said. "You got a car in North Carolina and a body that ended up down here. You can only guess at what might have occurred and where it might've occurred."
The Associated Press contributed information for this article.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB