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Body of Missing KKK Leader Found in Remote Missouri

Frank Ancona was killed in 'senseless act of violence'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 12, 2017 4:50 PM CST
Updated Feb 12, 2017 4:57 PM CST
Police Find Body of Missing KKK Leader
In this 2016 photo, members of the Ku Klux Klan participate in cross burnings in rural Paulding County, Georgia.   (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Authorities are investigating the death of a Missouri man who identified himself as an "imperial wizard" of a Ku Klux Klan chapter, reports AP. The body of 51-year-old Frank Ancona of Leadwood, Missouri, was found near the Big River Saturday by a family fishing. Ancona had been missing since Wednesday, and his car was found Friday evening. An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death, but Washington County Sheriff Zach Jacobsen called the incident a “tragic and senseless act of violence," per the Kansas City Star. Ancona led the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which he maintained was a Christian group, not a hate group. Police say Ancona's wife reported last seeing her husband Wednesday morning before he left for work.

She says he got a call from his employer stating he needed to drive across the state to deliver auto parts, reports the Daily Journal. However, his employer says he didn't receive any such instructions from them. Police also questioned Malissa Ancona about an online posting she put up the day he disappeared in search of a roommate. “She stated she did it because when he said he was leaving to go out of state on this job, he took a bag of clothes with him and said when he got back he was filing for divorce,” says Leadwood Police Chief William Dickey. “She told us she figured she would need help to pay the rent, so she put an ad out looking for a roommate.” Looking inside the house, police say they found a safe that had been forced open with a crowbar, its contents missing. (More KKK stories.)

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