NEWTON — Law enforcement located a body they believe to be Jonathan Clayton, a missing Peabody man, inside a crashed vehicle east of Newton.
Clayton had been missing since Aug. 3. He worked as the interim clerk for the City of Peabody and previously led COVID-19 recovery efforts for the Kansas Department of Commerce. His criminal history and pending investigations came to light after he disappeared, along with a pre-scheduled, cryptic email from Clayton accusing Kansas officials of wrongdoing.
Sheriff Chad Gay confirmed the Harvey County Sheriff’s Department had investigated a report of a crashed vehicle shortly before 3 o’clock Sunday afternoon, according to Harvey County Now. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation later confirmed a fatal crash was discovered.
A press release said a property owner called the sheriff’s department after he discovered a red 2011 Chevy Silverado crashed on his property. The truck was registered to Clayton.
Gay said deputies investigated the scene and believed the vehicle left the roadway and hit a tree. Gay said the location of the vehicle was difficult to see from the roadway and that evidence found on the scene indicated it was Clayton, the newspaper reported.
Officially, the identity will be confirmed through medical analysis.
CLAYTON’S husband, Christopher King, called a reporter at Harvey County Now to inform them of the development.
“I am sad to hear the news. I love Jonathan very much, and I was hopeful that he would be found alive,” King told the paper.
Law enforcement, friends and family have been searching for Clayton after he was last seen on Aug. 3. His cell phone was last pinged from a cell phone tower that morning at the Newton Holiday Inn Express, where those working reported Clayton came in to use the restroom.
Clayton had been working for Peabody, population 937, first as dogcatcher and more recently as interim city clerk after serving as the director of economic recovery for the Kansas Department of Commerce. At the time of his disappearance, his criminal history was becoming more widely known 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.
Less than a week after he was reported missing, Clayton claimed in an email purporting to be from him that his disappearance was related to his role in a “scheme” to steer pandemic aid toward pre-selected awardees at the direction of Lt. Gov. David Toland, a Democrat who is also the Kansas secretary of commerce.
Clayton’s claim has not been substantiated.Clayton had been let go by the Commerce Department.
Clayton was hired as a regional project manager on Feb. 23, 2020 for the Department.
The Kansas Department of Commerce said the agency didn’t know about his felony record when it hired him.
