Former Mississippi official found dead in Georgia

CANTON, MISSISSIPPI - Authorities said former Madison County, Mississippi, Chancery Clerk Steve Duncan, who resigned from numerous county jobs amid federal and state probes, was found dead in a car in Georgia. <br> <br> Ray Dunlap, public information officer for the Gwinnett County, Georgia, Police Department, said preliminary results of an autopsy indicate Duncan took his life by consuming antifreeze. <br> <br> Dunlap said the body was found in the back seat of a vehicle that contained antifreeze containers. Dunlap said Duncan may have been dead for a couple of days when a patrolling officer found his body about 3 a.m. Wednesday. <br> <br> Duncan resigned in August 2001 from several positions, including his clerk post and as Madison County Medical Center administrator. <br> <br> Dunlap said an investigation would continue because of the unusual circumstances of the death, including the fact the body was in the back seat. He said a toxicology report is needed to confirm the cause of death because Duncan had apparently attempted suicide before. Dunlap said he also used antifreeze in that attempt. <br> <br> An audit found Duncan wrote checks to himself totaling $60,000. Federal and state investigators were looking into allegations he transferred money from a county reserve fund to keep the county hospital afloat without telling supervisors. <br> <br> In an interview after his resignation, Duncan said he stole no money from the county. <br> <br> Duncan, who had been the highest paid public official in the state in 1999, served as county administrator, comptroller, purchase clerk and head of records restoration, as well as chancery clerk. <br> <br> The FBI at one point seized computers belonging to Duncan and an assistant. State auditors were busy going through files in the chancery clerk&#39;s office at the time of his resignation.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/3/202770