Prosecutors Consider Charges Against Resurfaced Mailman

COLUMBUS, Ind. -- A court on Monday granted prosecutors three more days to consider what charges to file against a mailman who police said was found illegally possessing a gun days after he disappeared.

John R. Jordan, who was reported missing Wednesday after he didn't complete his Greenfield mail route, was arrested Saturday in Columbus after a merchant told police he saw a gun fall from Jordan's backpack, authorities said.

"If we knew exactly what charges we were going to file, we wouldn't have requested the additional 72 hours," Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash said.

According to police, Jordan, 48, of Knightstown, said he left his mail route and traveled more than 60 miles to the south because he was having unspecified personal problems.

Police said Jordan's mail truck was found abandoned Wednesday in Greenfield. According to police, Jordan told at least one person that he traveled to Columbus by water in a canoe, which he said he ditched at Mill Race Park.

Police said Jordan bought a red scooter from Affordable Auto in Columbus on Saturday with $1,300 in cash. A man working there, Marty Sutton, said he accepted the payment but became suspicious of Jordan.

"He opened up his backpack to get the money out. There was a pistol and some needles that fell out," Sutton told 6News' Rick Hightower. "He shoved them back in real quick."

Police said Jordan then went to a laundry facility. Sutton said he realized he recognized Jordan from news accounts of his disappearance and called police.

"The more I looked at him, I realized I noticed him from the Channel 6 news," Sutton said.

Police said they found the gun and more than $6,000 in Jordan's backpack. Jordan was arrested on a preliminary charge of carrying a handgun without a license.

Authorities said Jordan had told one person that he was headed to New Orleans and another to Florida.