KKK imperial wizard found shot dead on Mo. river bank
A Missouri man who identified as an “imperial wizard” of a Ku Klux Klan group was found dead on a river bank Saturday, according to authorities.
An autopsy found that Frank Ancona, 51, died from a gunshot wound to his head, the Park Hills Daily Journal reported.
Officials first learned of Ancona’s disappearance on Friday, the same day that a United States Federal Forest Service employee discovered Ancona’s car on Federal Forest Service Property, Washington County Sheriff Zach Jacobsen said in a Facebook post.
Authorities searched the area, but Ancona’s body was not found until Saturday when a family that was fishing near Belgrade, Mo., found his remains on the river bank, The Park Hills Daily Journal reported.
Leadwood Police Chief William Dickey told the Daily Journal that Ancona was last seen by his wife on Wednesday morning. Dickey said Ancona’s wife, Malissa Ancona, said her husband told her he was driving across state lines to deliver a part for work.
The Daily Journal reported that Malissa told authorities her husband packed a bag and said he wanted a divorce when he returned from his work trip. The day he left, she placed an ad on Facebook seeking a roommate to help her with rent, the Daily Journal reported.
Dickey told the Daily Journal that officers found a safe that looked like someone had used a crowbar to beat the side out of it and that all of Franks firearms were missing from the home.
Ancona, of Leadwood, Mo., is identified as the “Imperial Wizard” for a group called the “Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.” In a photo on the group's website, Ancona is wearing a white hood and standing in front of a burning cross.
“The media will tell you The KKK is dead, gone, irrelevant,” Ancona said in a statement on the website. “They have tried since the birth of the Klan to downplay the influence and power of the KKK... Let me tell you they are the haters. They have engaged in a campaign to destroy our Race, culture, and heritage.”
The investigation into Ancona's death is ongoing, according to authorities.
Follow Mary Bowerman on Twitter: @maryBowerman
