The FBI launched a kidnapping investigation Friday in the death of Michael Jordan's father after authorities said James Jordan died from a single gunshot wound to the chest following his disappearance three weeks ago.
A body found floating in a South Carolina creek Aug. 3 was identified Friday as Jordan's and authorities said they were treating the case as a homicide.Jordan, the father of perhaps the most well-known athlete in the world, was last seen July 22, and his luxury car was found stripped in a wooded area near Fayetteville on Aug. 5. His body was found near McColl, S.C., about 60 miles southwest of Fayetteville.
Dental records were used to identify the badly decomposed body as that of Jordan, 57. Marlboro County Coroner Tim Brown said the body was cremated Aug. 6, after the autopsy but before it was identified.
Cumberland County authorities, who are in charge of the homicide investigation, said they had no suspects and no motive for the slaying. They reported no ransom demands had been made on the family.
But Thomas Lusby, FBI assistant special agent in charge in North Carolina, said the agency is treating the incident as a possible kidnapping because Jordan "was last seen in North Carolina and his vehicle was recovered here and the body was recovered in South Carolina."
"This gives us a reasonable presumption he was taken against his will and abducted," he said.
"There aren't any witnesses coming forth. We've got to conduct a thorough investigation and turn over every rock we can," Lusby said.
Michael Jordan, who earlier this year led the Chicago Bulls to their third consecutive NBA championship, has made no public statement on his father's death. He arrived at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport aboard a private jet Friday afternoon and left in a sedan without talking to reporters. His mother, Deloris, was thought to be at her home in Union County, N.C., but also had not commented publicly.
The elder Jordan had not been seen since late July when he attended the funeral of a friend in Wilmington. Family members, who were reportedly used to Jordan going off on his own, had not reported him missing.
Authorities said Thursday they began searching for Jordan after they learned he was the owner of a luxury car found Aug. 5 in a wooded area near Fayetteville. The red Lexus 400 had been stripped of its tires, stereo speakers and personalized license plates, the front windshield was shattered and the back window was completely broken out.
Cumberland County authorities said the vandalism to the car may be unrelated to Jordan's death, noting that it had been driven to the area and locked.
"This being on I-95 in a large metropolitan area, we find a lot of stripped cars," Sheriff Morris Bedsole said.
Investigators traveled to Pender County on Friday to try to learn more about James Jordan's activities when he was last seen. Bedsole said 10 to 15 homicide investigators are assigned to the case.
Jordan was close to his 30-year-old son, whose basketball success brought him earnings estimated at $30 million a year and contracts for everything from footwear to hot dogs.
He shared in Michael Jordan's success, was frequently at courtside in Chicago Stadium, and even appeared in commercials with him.
The father also shared in the son's more difficult moments. When the Bulls star was accused of excessive gambling during the NBA semifinals against the New York Knicks, it was James Jordan who served as his spokesman.
James Jordan said he accompanied his son to the casinos in Atlantic City, N.J., the night before the Bulls lost Game 2 to the Knicks.
"The trip was my idea," James Jordan said in May. "I took him with me. He just paid the bill. It wasn't anything planned ahead of time. It didn't seem like going to Atlantic City for gambling. I just thought he might want to relax."
The elder Jordan also said his son didn't have a gambling problem.
"He wouldn't be doing it if he couldn't afford it," James Jordan said. "He's not that stupid. He's got a competition problem."
The body was found by Hal Locklear, a construction worker who was fishing at the creek near McColl.
"I couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman," said Locklear. "I thought it was a mannequin. It was half in the water and half on the branch. My first thought was to get the hell out of there."
Dr. Keene Garvin, a forensic pathologist at South Carolina's Newberry County Memorial Hospital who helped perform the autopsy Aug. 4, said Jordan had been dead "quite a while."