Leadwood Police Chief William Dickey reported that Ancona was last seen by his wife, Malissa Ancona, Wednesday morning.

Jacobsen said he learned Thursday on Facebook that Ancona had gone missing. Later, a Federal Forestry Service employee located Ancona’s vehicle on a forestry service road off Route P in Potosi.

“Deputies responded on Friday and located the vehicle and secured it,” said Jacobsen. “We left deputies at the scene and secured it overnight due to the loss of light.”

On Saturday morning, a search by members of the Potosi Fire Protection District and the sheriff’s office revealed evidence of a burn pile near Ancona’s vehicle, Jacobsen said.

Officers executed two search warrants and arrested one man on an unrelated drug warrant out of Washington County. While officers were waiting for a warrant to be issued, the dispatch center received a call from a woman who was taking her family fishing that they had located a body near the bank of the Big River near Belgrade, Mo., about 70 miles southwest of St. Louis.

The coroner’s office determined that the body was Ancona’s and that he died from a gunshot wound to the head, Jacobsen said.

The St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department and Missouri Highway Patrol were assisting in the investigation.