The body of a man missing for more than a year and a half has been found buried beneath a crawl space in his rural house, Bonner County Sheriff Chip Roos said Friday.
Paul Gruber, 53, apparently died of a gunshot wound, Roos said. An autopsy is pending.The retired schoolteacher was reported missing in January 1994, and his pickup was found abandoned three days later in Coeur d'Alene.
Investigators suspected Gruber was a homicide victim and unsuccessfully searched several times beneath his home for a body.
Authorities were recently contacted by the house's building contractor, who had checked the home south of Sandpoint and found an unusual depression in the earth beneath a crawl space.
On Wednesday, authorities found the body buried beneath three feet of dirt and covered by a plastic sheet, Roos said.
Investigators were seeking a man who detectives have long considered a "person of interest" in Gruber's disappearance, sheriff's detective John Valdez said. The man, who has not been charged, moved from the Sandpoint area after the disappearance. Authorities expect to be able to find him, Valdez said.
Detectives were unsure of a motive in the slaying, he said.