Art Jones articles

[justins5256]

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: COMPANY SEEKS RESULTS FROM EXPLOSION PROBE
Author: MARYLYNNE PITZ, POST-GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
Date: April 5, 1995
Section: LOCAL
Page: B-5

Rheem Manufacturing wants to know what federal investigators learned about the
late automobile dealer Art Jones Jr. and a propane gas explosion that destroyed
his home in Fallowfield Sept. 18, 1991.

Jones' body was found seven months later in woods near the house, but
investigators still are unsure whether he died in the explosion.Yesterday, Rheem
Manufacturing went to U.S. District Court to gain access to records from agents
for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Rheem, a subsidiary of Pace Industries Inc. and headquartered in New York City,
makes residential heating and air conditioning equipment and water heaters.

ATF agents investigated Jones' background as well as the explosion and resulting
fire. The investigation included "an analysis of the debris and household
appliances, including the furnace, water heater and propane delivery system, as
well as interviews with business and personal associates of Arthur J. Jones
Jr.," according to the company's lawsuit.

Jones' children sued Rheem Manufacturing last year in Washington County Common
Pleas Court, saying the explosion was "caused by alleged defects in the heating
appliances and propane delivery system which serviced the home."

To defend Rheem against the lawsuit, company attorneys asked ATF in October for
records related to the Jones investigation. Attorney Clem Trischler requested
the records under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

Marilyn R. LaBrie, a disclosure specialist with ATF in Washington, D.C., denied
the request in a letter, saying "release of these records could reasonably be
expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings."

Trischler appealed, and ATF Director John W. Magaw said the records were not
released because the investigation was still in progress as of December.

A motorist found Jones' decomposed body over a steep cliff about 400 yards

from the home April 25, 1992. The Washington County coroner determined that
Jones, 57, owner of Art Jones-Bendik-Lancaster Buick in Charleroi, died of blunt
force trauma to the head.

LIB7



Author: MARYLYNNE PITZ, POST-GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
Section: LOCAL
Page: B-5

Copyright (c) 1995 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: ZONES
Author: COMPILED BY JOHN O'BRIEN
Date: October 3, 1993
Section: ZONES
Page: A-2

ON THIS DATE

One year ago (Saturday, Oct. 3, 1992)

-- A death certificate was issued for Charleroi car dealer Art Jones, whose body
was found near his Fallowfield home months after a September 1991 explosion
leveled it. The cause of death was undetermined.

Five years ago (Monday, Oct. 3, 1988)

-- The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide whether to uphold an appeals-court
ruling that a Nativity scene in the Allegheny County Courthouse and a menorah in
the City-County Building were unconstitutional.

-- Space shuttle Discovery returned to Earth after a four-day mission that
seemed to go a long way toward restoring confidence in the reliability of the
winged, reusable vehicles, and reviving the nation's space program.

Ten years ago (Monday, Oct. 3, 1983)

-- The U.S. Supreme Court gave governments the green light to ban handguns

from people's homes in letting stand a ruling that upheld a suburban Chicago
ordinance that forbade sale and ownership of handguns.

-- The Supreme Court termed "immoral" calling off sick when you aren't, in
upholding a ruling that OK'd the dismissal by Bethel Park School District of a
teacher who in 1979 used two sick days for a convention in New Orleans.

Twenty-five years ago (Thursday, Oct. 3, 1968)

-- Retired Air Force chief of staff Gen. Curtis LeMay agreed to be the running
mate of presidential candidate ex-Alabama Gov. George Wallace. LeMay had
threatened to bomb the North Vietnamese "back to the stone age."

-- Racial violence closed Oliver High School on the North Side when a fight
involving blacks and whites injured students, wrecked some classrooms and the
cafeteria, and spilled into the neighborhood. At least three were arrested.

Fifty years ago (Sunday, Oct. 3, 1943)

-- American and British troops launched an all-out campaign to drive the Germans
from Rome; Nazi troops were driven out of Naples and sent north as the 8th Army
advanced 30 miles on the Italian east coast.

-- Selective Service Director Lewis Hershey told a House subcommittee that
home-front manpower problems might be eased by more efficient use of draft
registrants classified 4-F, 39,000 of whom were in Allegheny County.

Today's birthdays

Author Gore Vidal is 68. Actress Madlyn Rhue is 59. Rock 'n' roll star Chubby
Checker is 52. All-star outfielder Dave Winfield is 42.

LIB1



Author: COMPILED BY JOHN O'BRIEN
Section: ZONES
Page: A-2

Copyright (c) 1993 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: EX-CORONER'S 'EGO' CITED IN CASSIDY CASE TEAM EFFORT HELPED PROBE
Author: LAWRENCE WALSH, POST-GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
Date: January 31, 1993
Section: ZONES
Page: W-1

Tim Warco says the team approach he instituted after becoming coroner a year
ago might have helped law-enforcement officials realize that the 1991 shotgun
death of John Cassidy was a murder and not a suicide.

"I don't want to criticize what was done in that case because I haven't reviewed
the file, but the ego of the former coroner often prompted him to

draw his own conclusions about a case before all the facts were in," Warco
said."What's his problem?" former coroner Farrell Jackson asked when informed of
Warco's comments. "Wait until he gets the kind of cases I had during my 34 years
in office. Then we'll see who has an ego."

John Cassidy, 33, of Monongahela, died in the early morning hours of Feb. 12,
1991, after his wife, Mary, now 31, put the barrel of a .20-gauge shotgun under
his chin and pulled the trigger. Cassidy was sleeping off the effects of a night
of drinking and cocaine snorting on a sofa in the living room.

Mary Cassidy pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and is serving a 5- to
10-year prison sentence at a state correctional institution in Cambridge Springs
in Crawford County.

The question about the competency of the investigation into Cassidy's death was
raised 10 days ago during the trial of Mary Cassidy's former lover, David M.
Bowers, now 19, of Jefferson, Allegheny County. He was charged with solicitation
to commit criminal homicide after Cassidy said he encouraged her to kill her
husband. A jury Jan. 23 said he was not guilty.

Jackson said he was suspicious initially about the location of the shotgun when
he entered the Cassidy home Feb. 12.

"The butt was on the floor and the barrel was resting against the sofe and
pointing up toward Cassidy's head. I wondered about that, but the (Monongahela)
police were confident that it was a suicide," Jackson said.

Monongahela police Officer Brian Tempest told Jackson at the time and testified
during the trial that he had been dispatched to the Cassidy home in January 1990
to check on a domestic disturbance. Tempest said he found Cassidy, "who had been
drinking," with a rifle in his hand "and talking about killing himself." Tempest
was able to disarm Cassidy and soon afterward removed a number of rifles from
the home.

John Cassidy's father, Joseph, complained bitterly last weekend that Jackson's
investigation into his son's death left a lot to be desired.

"No one measured the length of my son's arms and the length of that shotgun
until we complained about it," Cassidy said. The measurement showed that his son
could have tucked the weapon under his chin and pulled the trigger.

"No one checked the gun for fingerprints. No one conducted any tests on my son's
hands to see if he had fired the gun. Then, when they finally realized John had
been killed, they had to exhume his body to make sure there were no other wounds
on his body."

That's all true, Jackson said. "Although fingerprints are difficult to pick up
from a shotgun, it wasn't done. And no tests were done on John's hands. The
state police normally do that for us, but they were understaffed and no one was
available to do it for us. Everything pointed to suicide."

Such assumptions can be misleading, Warco said.

"My deputies and I use a team approach. Our local police make sure that the
scene is preserved as is until we get there. That's required by law. We conduct
our investigation and then review our findings with the police," Warco said.

"But, if we believe an autopsy is required, it is performed. If we think
toxicology tests are necessary, they're done, too. It's very easy to mask a
homicide as a suicide so we're very careful about what we do.

"Sometimes the cause of death cannot be determined and we say so. It doesn't
happen often, but we've had a few cases like that. An example of that is the Art
Jones case." He was referring to the death of the Washington County car dealer
who was thought initially to have died when his home exploded.

His body was found months later by a hunter at the base of a rock ledge.
Authorities believe Jones was stunned by the explosion, wandered away from his
home and fell over the ledge.

Jackson said his investigation into the death of John Cassidy would have been
"so much easier" if he had been told about the romantic relationship between
Mary Cassidy and Bowers and about a recording device that John Cassidy and his
sister-in-law, Bonnie McKinley, had hooked up in the Cassidy home the afternoon
before his death. Cassidy thought his wife was seeing another man.

McKinley, who had four children by John Cassidy, retrieved the cassette
recording from the basement of the Cassidy home the evening of Feb. 12. She
waited for almost a month before giving it to the state police. Mary Cassidy
confessed after hearing a brief portion of the tape.

LIB6



Author: LAWRENCE WALSH, POST-GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
Section: ZONES
Page: W-1

Copyright (c) 1993 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: EX-CORONER'S 'EGO' CITED IN CASSIDY CASE
Author: LAWRENCE WALSH, POST-GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
Date: January 31, 1993
Section: METRO
Page: W-1

Tim Warco says the team approach he instituted after becoming coroner a year
ago might have helped law-enforcement officials realize that the 1991 shotgun
death of John Cassidy was a murder and not a suicide.

"I don't want to criticize what was done in that case because I haven't reviewed
the file, but the ego of the former coroner often prompted him to

draw his own conclusions about a case before all the facts were in," Warco
said."What's his problem?" former coroner Farrell Jackson asked when informed of
Warco's comments. "Wait until he gets the kind of cases I had during my 34 years
in office. Then we'll see who has an ego."

John Cassidy, 33, of Monongahela, died in the early morning hours of Feb. 12,
1991, after his wife, Mary, now 31, put the barrel of a .20-gauge shotgun under
his chin and pulled the trigger. Cassidy was sleeping off the effects of a night
of drinking and cocaine snorting on a sofa in the living room.

Mary Cassidy pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and is serving a 5- to
10-year prison sentence at a state correctional institution in Cambridge Springs
in Crawford County.

The question about the competency of the investigation into Cassidy's death was
raised 10 days ago during the trial of Mary Cassidy's former lover, David M.
Bowers, now 19, of Jefferson, Allegheny County. He was charged with solicitation
to commit criminal homicide after Cassidy said he encouraged her to kill her
husband. A jury Jan. 23 said he was not guilty.

Jackson said he was suspicious initially about the location of the shotgun when
he entered the Cassidy home Feb. 12.

"The butt was on the floor and the barrel was resting against the sofe and
pointing up toward Cassidy's head. I wondered about that, but the (Monongahela)
police were confident that it was a suicide," Jackson said.

Monongahela police Officer Brian Tempest told Jackson at the time and testified
during the trial that he had been dispatched to the Cassidy home in January 1990
to check on a domestic disturbance. Tempest said he found Cassidy, "who had been
drinking," with a rifle in his hand "and talking about killing himself." Tempest
was able to disarm Cassidy and soon afterward removed a number of rifles from
the home.

John Cassidy's father, Joseph, complained bitterly last weekend that Jackson's
investigation into his son's death left a lot to be desired.

"No one measured the length of my son's arms and the length of that shotgun
until we complained about it," Cassidy said. The measurement showed that his son
could have tucked the weapon under his chin and pulled the trigger.

"No one checked the gun for fingerprints. No one conducted any tests on my son's
hands to see if he had fired the gun. Then, when they finally realized John had
been killed, they had to exhume his body to make sure there were no other wounds
on his body."

That's all true, Jackson said. "Although fingerprints are difficult to pick up
from a shotgun, it wasn't done. And no tests were done on John's hands. The
state police normally do that for us, but they were understaffed and no one was
available to do it for us. Everything pointed to suicide."

Such assumptions can be misleading, Warco said.

"My deputies and I use a team approach. Our local police make sure that the
scene is preserved as is until we get there. That's required by law. We conduct
our investigation and then review our findings with the police," Warco said.

"But, if we believe an autopsy is required, it is performed. If we think
toxicology tests are necessary, they're done, too. It's very easy to mask a
homicide as a suicide so we're very careful about what we do.

"Sometimes the cause of death cannot be determined and we say so. It doesn't
happen often, but we've had a few cases like that. An example of that is the Art
Jones case." He was referring to the death of the Washington County car dealer
who was thought initially to have died when his home exploded.

His body was found months later by a hunter at the base of a rock ledge.
Authorities believe Jones was stunned by the explosion, wandered away from his
home and fell over the ledge.

Jackson said his investigation into the death of John Cassidy would have been
"so much easier" if he had been told about the romantic relationship between
Mary Cassidy and Bowers and about a recording device that John Cassidy and his
sister-in-law, Bonnie McKinley, had hooked up in the Cassidy home the afternoon
before his death. Cassidy thought his wife was seeing another man.

McKinley, who had four children by John Cassidy, retrieved the cassette
recording from the basement of the Cassidy home the evening of Feb. 12. She
waited for almost a month before giving it to the state police. Mary Cassidy
confessed after hearing a brief portion of the tape.

LIB6



Author: LAWRENCE WALSH, POST-GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
Section: METRO
Page: W-1

Copyright (c) 1993 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: CORONER UNSURE HOW ART JONES WAS KILLED
Date: October 14, 1992
Section: LOCAL
Page: A7

Investigators say they may never know how Washington County car dealer Art Jones
Jr. received the head injuries that killed him.

Jones' home in Fallowfield was destroyed by a propane gas explosion early Sept.
18, 1991. Jones, 55, was last seen the evening before. His badly decomposed body
was found April 25 over a steep cliff about 400 yards southeast of his
home.Coroner Tim Warco has issued a final death certificate ruling that Jones
died of blunt force trauma to the head. Despite forensic and other laboratory
testing, however, the manner in which Jones received his injuries "could not be
determined."

Warco previously theorized that Jones probably fell over the steep cliff after
the blast while wandering in the dark in a daze.

The cliff's sheer drop would have made it impossible for search teams from atop
the hill to see the body and fall leaves covering the ground at the time of the
explosion helped conceal the body from anyone scanning the hillside

from below.

Other scenarios probed by investigators included the possibility that Jones was
murdered and his body was left there or that Jones was killed by the force of
the blast and his body was hurled over the hill. Bricks and other building
materials from Jones' home were found at the bottom of that hillside following
the blast.



Section: LOCAL
Page: A7

Copyright (c) 1992 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: ART JONES
Date: May 1, 1992
Section: OBIT
Page: C4

The funeral is tomorrow for auto dealer Art Jones, whose body was found Saturday
a few hundred yards from his former home in Washington County.

Mr. Jones, 57, of Fallowfield, had not been seen since Sept. 17. His house was
destroyed in a propane gas explosion early Sept. 18.Mr. Jones is survived by a
daughter, Lisa Blohm of Whitehall; three sons, Frank, David and James, all of
Jefferson; his mother, Maye E. Jones of Meadville, Crawford County; a sister,
Janet Machesky of Meadville; and four grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 7 to 9 tonight at the John F. Slater Funeral Home, 4201
Brownsville Road, Brentwood.

The funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow in the mausoleum chapel at Jefferson
Memorial Park, Pleasant Hills.



Section: OBIT
Page: C4

Copyright (c) 1992 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: DISCOVERY OF JONES' BODY LITTLE COMFORT TO FAMILY
Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: April 29, 1992
Section: LOCAL
Page: B4

The family of Washington County car dealer Art Jones -- whose badly decomposed
body was found by a passing motorist over a steep cliff about 400 yards
southeast of his home -- is not really comforted by the discovery, a relative
said.

"The idea that it was there all along is no more comforting to the family than
it is to authorities," Mark Blohm, Jones' son-in-law, said yesterday."At this
point, the only thing it does is dispel theory by some people that he was off
someplace on a beach."

Blohm said family members, official and volunteer searchers, and rescue dogs
brought in at the family's request searched down the hillside behind Jones'
property and all around the hilltop more than 200 yards south and east. But the
search did not extend down over the steep cliff below which the body was found,
he said.

Jones, owner of Art Jones-Bendik-Lancaster Buick in nearby Charleroi, was last
seen by a neighbor about 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17 as he pulled into the driveway of
his home on Park Road in the Rodgers Manor housing plan in Fallowfield.

A propane gas explosion leveled the house early the next day, but no trace of
Jones was found in the rubble. He remained a missing person until Saturday
evening, when a hunter driving with his family on old Route 71 toward Charleroi
spotted something about 100 feet up the hillside, just below a 40- foot ledge.

The motorist, Craig Bartolozzi, who lives in nearby Dunlevey, said yesterday
that he began scanning the hillside for game, a habit of his.

The dead leaves on the hillside appeared dark brown from the rain and a white
figure stood out immediately, he said.

Bartolozzi left his wife, daughter Melina and son Matthew in the car and climbed
up the hillside.

Bartolozzi walked to within 10 feet of the body, which was badly decomposed.

He then drove to a nearby hardware store, where he called police.

Washington County Coroner S. Timothy Warco said Monday that dental records
confirmed the body was that of Jones.

An autopsy by the Allegheny County coroner's office showed Jones likely died
from a fractured skull.

What authorities don't know is the time and manner of Jones' death, how he
received the head injury, whether he was in the house at the time of the
explosion and how he got to where his body was found.

State police will investigate the manner of death, checking information

from Fallowfield police.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by the John F. Slater Funeral Home, 4201
Brownsville Road, Brentwood, where friends may call from 2 to 9 p.m. Friday.

The funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the mausoleum chapel at Jefferson
Memorial Park in Pleasant Hills.



Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: B4

Copyright (c) 1992 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Paper: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Title: BODY FOUND NEAR SITE OF EXPLOSION IDENTIFIED INVESTIGATORS SAY ART JONES,
DAZED BY THE BLAST, MAY HAVE FALLEN OFF A CLIFF ONTO THE LEDGE.
Author: Catherine Dressler, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Date: April 28, 1992
Section: LOCAL
Page: B03

The mystery of a car dealer missing since his house exploded last fall began to
unravel yesterday when it was confirmed that his body was found on a ledge about
400 yards behind the home.

Investigators still don't know exactly what happened to 52-year-old Art Jones,
but they believe he may have survived the Sept. 18 explosion, wandered in a daze
through the wooded area near his house in Fallowfield Township, Washington
County, and fallen from a 40-foot cliff onto the ledge, said Washington County
Coroner Timothy Warco.Experts consulting with investigators said they did not
believe Jones could have been blown that far, Warco said.

His body, which was found Saturday by a hunter, apparently remained on the ledge
as police, firefighters, volunteers, and dogs searched the area near the house
that was leveled when a propane tank erupted.

"I'm giving all the searchers the benefit of the doubt," Warco said. ''They
could have gone there, stood at the cliff, looked down and not even seen him."

The Allegheny County Coroner's Office confirmed the identity of the mostly
skeletal remains by using dental records.

An autopsy revealed that Jones most likely died of a fractured skull, Warco
said.

He said the fracture probably resulted from the fall from the cliff, although a
blow to the skull was not ruled out.

A left rib also was fractured and hair on the left arm and left side of the
scalp had been singed, indicating exposure to heat or fire, he said. Some
clothing fragments were found by the body.

Jones, who lived alone, owned a Buick dealership deep in debt, giving rise to
speculation about his disappearance.

Fewer than three weeks after the blast, Mellon Bank took over the dealership.

Two months later, with the dealership more than $800,000 in arrears, the bank
auctioned off the vehicles.

After the explosion, agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms searched the house rubble and found no trace of Jones.

Pictures of Jones were sent to every police department in the country, and the
case was featured on the NBC-TV series Unsolved Mysteries.



Author: Catherine Dressler, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: B03

Copyright (c) 1992 The Philadelphia Inquirer

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Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: ID OF ART JONES' BODY OPENS NEW MYSTERIES
Author: TIM VERCELLOTTI, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: April 28, 1992
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Confirmation that a body found Saturday in Washington County was that of missing
auto dealer Art Jones solved one mystery, but gave rise to a host of other
questions.

"I can guarantee no stone will be unturned" in the investigation of Jones'
death, said state police Trooper Pat Donohoe.The criminal investigation unit at
the state police barracks in Belle Vernon took over the case after an
examination of dental records revealed the body was that of Jones, 55, of
Fallowfield Township. Before yesterday, Fallowfield police had handled the
matter as a missing person case.

Donohoe said state police will begin by re-examining information that
Fallowfield police gathered in their investigation. "We're going to reinterview
people and relook at everything."

Jones was last reported seen by a neighbor about 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17 as he pulled
into his driveway. A propane gas explosion leveled Jones' house early Sept. 18.

No trace of Jones was found until Saturday night, when a motorist driving on old
Route 71 toward Charleroi spotted something on a hillside about 400 yards from
the site of Jones' home. The motorist climbed the hill and found a nude, badly
decomposed body below a 40-foot cliff.

Washington County Coroner S. Timothy Warco yesterday said dental records
confirmed the body was that of Jones. An autopsy performed by the Allegheny
County coroner's office showed Jones likely died from a fractured skull, but the
manner of death was undetermined.

"One thing we know beyond any shadow of a doubt -- it is Art Jones," Warco said
at a news conference at the Allegheny County Morgue following the autopsy
yesterday.

What authorities don't know is how Jones received the head injury, whether he
was in the house at the time of the explosion, how he got to where his body was
found, and the time and manner of his death.

"There are a lot of unanswered questions," Donohoe said.

Toxicology tests by the Allegheny County coroner's office, due to be completed
in six to eight weeks, will determine the time of death. Warco said the tests
will measure for drugs, alcohol and carbon dioxide, and the latter could show
whether Jones was in the house when it exploded.

The autopsy, performed by Dr. John Heiserodt, an Allegheny County forensic
pathologist, showed Jones' skull was fractured near the right temple. Jones had
a fractured left rib, and hair was singed on his left arm and left scalp.

Noting the singed hair, Warco theorized that Jones could've been in or near the
house when it exploded; dazed and possibly blinded, Jones might have wandered to
the edge of the cliff and fallen.

Warco said Jones' injuries did not suggest he was thrown by the blast. ''It's
most likely the fractures were produced by the fall than any other type of
trauma."

But Warco and police refused to rule out homicide, and Warco said, "The
possibility of a blow to the head cannot be excluded."

While the explosion obliterated Jones' house, Warco said experts have documented
cases in which people have lived through powerful blasts. Using the calm at the
center of a hurricane as an analogy, Warco said people have survived if they
were near the source of the explosion.

Fallowfield Fire Chief Dave Calcek found the theory hard to accept.

Noting that only shrubs were still standing when firefighters arrived, Calcek
said, "It was just a devastating blast. I don't see how any human could've
sustained life after having been in that house."

Dr. Cyril Wecht, a forensic pathologist and former coroner whom Jones' family
retained to search for remains at the site, also said, "I have some difficulty
with" the possibility that Jones was in the house.

But Wecht called the issue "academic," saying the more important question is
whether Jones' death was an accident or murder. Wecht said developments to date,
including the location of Jones' body 400 yards from the site of his home, point
to an accident.

"I think basically right now it would seem to be a quite plausible situation
where an accidental death could be reconstructed," Wecht said. ''Why would
anybody blow up the house, take him (Jones) back there and give him a blow on
the head or hit him on the head and carry him back there?"

Still, state and Fallowfield police said they aren't ruling out homicide.
''Anything is possible," said Fallowfield Police Chief Sam Woncheck.

Woncheck defended his department's handling of the case, which included searches
for Jones. Police and firefighters looked for Jones four times after the
explosion, ultimately combing areas "200 to 300 yards" from the blast site, he
said. Jones' family also brought in search dogs.

"As far as I'm concerned, I'm very comfortable with what the fire chief and I
did," Woncheck said.

Police did not search the area where Jones' body was found because it was too
hard to get to, Woncheck said. "It's cliff area. If you have rappelling gear you
can go down there. We do not."

Woncheck added that his officers considered that Jones might have wandered

from the scene, but added, "How many miles do you want to search? Do you want to
search the whole county?"

Woncheck said Jones' body would have been difficult to see from the cliff,
''even if you looked straight down."

Woncheck originally estimated that the body was found about 700 yards from the
home but said "I didn't measure it." Later, officers stepped off the distance
and found it to be about 400 yards, the chief said.

Warco, who did not take office as coroner until January, hesitated to criticize
the search efforts, saying, "If I was in charge of the field search, I probably
wouldn't have searched in any different manner."

Warco spoke with Jones' family before meeting with reporters yesterday.

"I think the family is very much satisfied they have found their family member,"
he said. "They are not happy, but at least they have peace of mind."

Family members could not be reached for comment.

For all the mystery shrouding Jones' death, authorities expressed a grim relief
at learning something about his fate.

"I had always said I had hoped he was on a beach relaxing," Woncheck said. "It's
a sad situation, but at least there's an answer."

The determination that Jones is dead means his estate, which has been managed by
a court-appointed trustee, may soon be turned over to the executor named in his
will for disbursal of any remaining assets.

The trustee, Washington County attorney William E. Speakman Jr., said he will
begin preparing an accounting of his handling of Jones' estate to present to
Washington County Orphans' Court.

Initially, it appeared Jones' sizable estate had creditors with sizable claims.
But earlier this year, Jones' car dealership was sold, and most claims

from creditors have been settled, Speakman said.

A few remain unresolved, including the exact amount Jones owed on a loan he had
obtained from Mellon Bank. But Speakman said he expects Jones' estate will not
end up in debt.

"It appears at this point as if he is solvent," Speakman said.

The will, previously filed with other court documents, identifies the executor
as Jones' sister, Janet Faith Machesky. It stipulated she would have received
possession of Jones' home, furnishings, clothing and personal effects, nearly
all of which were destroyed in the blast.

The will said each of Jones' four grown children -- Lisa Jones Blohm and Frank,
David and James Jones -- would receive a fourth of his estate. The will also
grants David Jones possession of his father's boat.



Author: TIM VERCELLOTTI, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Copyright (c) 1992 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: ID OF ART JONES' BODY OPENS NEW MYSTERIES
Author: TIM VERCELLOTTI AND JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: April 28, 1992
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Confirmation that a body found Saturday in Washington County was that of missing
auto dealer Art Jones solved one mystery, but gave rise to a host of other
questions.

"I can guarantee no stone will be unturned" in the investigation of Jones'
death, said state police Trooper Pat Donohoe.The criminal investigation unit at
the state police barracks in Belle Vernon took over the case after an
examination of dental records revealed the body was that of Jones, 55, of
Fallowfield. Before yesterday, Fallowfield police had handled the matter as a
missing person case.

Donohoe said the state police will begin by re-examining information Fallowfield
police gathered in their investigation.

"Obviously we were surprised," Mark Blohm, Jones' son-in-law, said today of the
body's discovery. "The idea that it was there all along is no more comforting to
the family than it is to authorities. At this point, the only thing it does is
dispel theory by some ... that he was off someplace on a beach."

Jones was last reported seen by a neighbor about 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17 as he pulled
into his driveway. A propane gas explosion leveled Jones' house early the next
day.

No trace of Jones was found until Saturday night, when a motorist driving on old
Route 71 toward Charleroi spotted something on a hillside about 400 yards
southeast of the site of Jones' home. The motorist, Craig Bartolozzi, an avid
hunter from nearby Dunlevy, Washington County, climbed the hill and found a
nude, badly decomposed body below a 40-foot cliff.

Washington County Coroner S. Timothy Warco yesterday said dental records
confirmed the body was that of Jones. An autopsy by the Allegheny County
coroner's office showed Jones likely died from a fractured skull.

What authorities don't know is how Jones received the head injury, whether he
was in the house at the time of the explosion, how he got to where his body was
found, and the time and manner of his death.

"There are a lot of unanswered questions," Donohoe said.

Toxicology tests by the Allegheny County coroner's office, due to be completed
in six to eight weeks, will determine the time of death. Warco said the tests
will measure for drugs, alcohol and carbon dioxide, and the latter could show
whether Jones was in the house when it exploded.

The autopsy, performed by Dr. John Heiserodt, an Allegheny County forensic
pathologist, showed Jones' skull was fractured near the right temple. Jones had
a fractured left rib, and hair was singed on his arm and scalp.

Noting the singed hair, Warco theorized Jones could've been in or near the house
when it exploded; dazed and possibly blinded, Jones might have wandered to the
edge of the cliff and fallen.

Warco said Jones' injuries did not suggest he was thrown by the blast. ''It's
most likely the fractures were produced by the fall than any other type of
trauma."

But Warco and police refused to rule out homicide, and Warco said, "The
possibility of a blow to the head cannot be excluded."

While the explosion obliterated Jones' house, Warco said experts have documented
cases in which people have lived through powerful blasts. Using the calm at the
center of a hurricane as an analogy, Warco said people have survived if they
were near the explosion's source.

Fallowfield Fire Chief Dave Calcek found the theory hard to accept.

Noting that only shrubs were still standing when firefighters arrived, Calcek
said, "It was just a devastating blast. I don't see how any human could've
sustained life after having been in that house."

Dr. Cyril Wecht, a forensic pathologist and former coroner whom Jones' family
retained to search for remains at the site, also said "I have some difficulty
with" the possibility that Jones was in the house when it exploded.

But Wecht called the issue "academic," saying the more important question is
whether Jones' death was an accident or murder. Wecht said developments to date,
including the location of Jones' body 400 yards from the site of his home, point
to an accident.

"I think basically right now it would seem to be a quite plausible situation
where an accidental death could be reconstructed," Wecht said. ''Why would
anybody blow up the house, take him (Jones) back there and give him a blow on
the head or hit him on the head and carry him back there?"

Still, state and Fallowfield police said they aren't ruling out homicide.
''Anything is possible," said Fallowfield Police Chief Sam Woncheck.

Woncheck defended his department's handling of the case, which included searches
for Jones. Police and firefighters looked for Jones four times after the
explosion, ultimately combing areas "200 to 300 yards" from the blast site, he
said. Jones' family also brought in search dogs.

Police did not search the area where Jones' body was found because it was too
hard to get to, Woncheck said. "It's cliff area. If you have rappelling gear you
can go down there. We do not."

Blohm, the son-in-law, said the search dogs brought in at the family's request
did not search the slope where the body was found, but came within 200 yards of
that area. "We never really thought about the possibility of a fall and looking
down over the cliff," he said. "We were very close (with the search), but we
weren't there."

Woncheck added that his officers considered that Jones might have wandered

from the scene, but added, "How many miles do you want to search? Do you want to
search the whole county?"

Woncheck said Jones' body would have been difficult to see from the cliff.

Woncheck originally estimated that the body was found about 700 yards from the
home but said "I didn't measure it." Later, officers stepped off the distance
and found it to be about 400 yards, the chief said.

Warco, who did not take office as coroner until January, hesitated to criticize
the search efforts, saying, "If I was in charge of the field search, I probably
wouldn't have searched in any different manner."

Warco spoke with Jones' family before meeting with reporters yesterday.

"I think the family is very much satisfied they have found their family member,"
he said.

Family members could not be reached for comment.

For all the mystery shrouding Jones' death, authorities expressed a grim relief
at learning something about his fate.

"I had always said I had hoped he was on a beach relaxing," Woncheck said. "It's
a sad situation, but at least there's an answer."

The determination that Jones is dead means his estate, which has been managed by
a court-appointed trustee, may soon be turned over to the executor named in his
will for disbursal of any remaining assets.

The trustee, Washington County attorney William E. Speakman Jr., said he will
begin preparing an accounting of his handling of Jones' estate to present to
Washington County Orphans' Court.

Initially, it appeared Jones' sizable estate had creditors with sizable claims.
But earlier this year, Jones' car dealership was sold, and most claims

from creditors have been settled, Speakman said.

A few remain unresolved, including the exact amount Jones owed on a loan he had
obtained from Mellon Bank. But Speakman said he expects Jones' estate will not
end up in debt.

"It appears at this point as if he is solvent," Speakman said.

The will, previously filed with other court documents, identifies the executor
as Jones' sister, Janet Faith Machesky. It stipulated she would have received
possession of Jones' home, furnishings, clothing and personal effects, nearly
all of which were destroyed in the blast.

The will said each of Jones' four grown children -- Lisa Jones Blohm and Frank,
David and James Jones -- would receive a fourth of his estate. The will also
grants David Jones possession of his father's boat.

Funeral arrangements for Jones will be handled by the John F. Slater Funeral
Home, 4201 Brownsville Rd., Brentwood, where friends may call from 2 to 9 p.m.
Friday.

The funeral will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the mausoleum chapel at
Jefferson Memorial Park in Pleasant Hills.



Author: TIM VERCELLOTTI AND JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Copyright (c) 1992 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: THE ORLANDO SENTINEL
Title: BODY FOUND WHERE HOME OF MISSING MAN BLEW UP
Date: April 28, 1992
Section: A SECTION
Page: A8

The mystery of a car dealer missing since his home exploded in September may
have been solved by the discovery of a body near the blast site. A hunter found
the decomposing body Saturday, about 700 yards from where Art Jones, 52, was
last seen entering his home the day before a propane heater tank exploded. The
blast left the house in ruins. Officials planned a further examination of the
body on Monday. Jones, who lived alone, owned a Buick dealership deep in debt,
giving rise to speculation a bout his disappearance.

Section: A SECTION
Page: A8

Copyright 1992 Sentinel Communications Co.

****************************************************

Paper: Akron Beacon Journal (OH)
Title: BODY FOUND NEAR EXPLOSION SITE
Author: Associated Press
Date: April 27, 1992
Section: NATION
Page: A6

A hunter found a decomposed body near where the house of an automobile

dealer exploded last fall, police said.

Authorities planned to use dental records to determine whether the body is that
of Art Jones, who has been missing since the Sept. 18 propane explosion. The
body was found about 7 p.m. SaturDAY, over a cliff behind the site of

Jones' house in Fallowfield Township. The hunter said he saw what he believed
was a turkey and walked closer to investigate.Township Police Chief Sam Woncheck
said the area was not searched in the

days following the explosion.

Phil Caldwell, who lives at the bottom of the cliff behind the Jones house, said
the explosion sent debris onto his property.

Since the explosion, theories about Jones' disappearance have abounded.

Some centered on the finances of his Buick dealership, which has been sold.

slb

Author: Associated Press
Section: NATION
Page: A6

Copyright (c) 1992 Akron Beacon Journal

****************************************************

Paper: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Title: METROPOLITAN AREA NEWS IN BRIEF
Date: April 27, 1992
Section: LOCAL
Page: B02



POLICE FIND BODY OF MAN

WHO HAD BEEN SHOT IN HEAD

Police following a tip from an anonymous caller entered a vacant house in North
Philadelphia yesterday and found the body of a man who had been bound and shot
in the head, police said.The unidentified man, about 30, was found just before 7
p.m. in the basement of a house in the 1500 block of West Boston Avenue,
detectives said. His hands and feet were tied, he was blindfolded and a cord was
around his neck. His body was beginning to decompose, police said.

Homicide detectives were investigating at the scene last night.

SELLERSVILLE MAN FATALLY SHOT;

QUAKERTOWN MAN IS CHARGED

A Quakertown man was charged yesterday with first-degree murder in the Saturday
night shooting death of John Flaherty of Sellersville, co-owner of the Parkway
Drive-in Restaurant in Haycock Township, Bucks County.

John R. Schriner, 40, was being held without bail at the Bucks County Prison on
charges of murder and possession of an instrument of crime, according to state
police at the Dublin Barracks. Police said Schriner walked into the restaurant,
which they described as a custard stand, at 9:05 p.m. Saturday, leveled a
12-gauge shotgun at Flaherty, 35, and killed him.

Investigators gave no motive for the incident, which they said occurred in front
of several restaurant patrons.

WILLIAMS SAYS EDUCATION

IS NEEDED TO STEM VIOLENCE

In a nationally televised interview, Police Commissioner Willie L. Williams
yesterday blamed urban gang violence on a culture bereft of family and
individual values, in which children are deluged by images of random violence
''from the time they're able to walk and crawl."

Williams said that stemming such violence requires steps beyond strong law
enforcement and prisons. "In addition to putting more dollars into law
enforcement, we have to realize that money has to go into the educational
system," he told interviewers on ABC's This Week with David Brinkley.

Williams, 48, was named 10 days ago to succeed Daryl F. Gates, who has announced
plans to retire in June as chief of the 8,300-officer Los Angeles Police
Department.

CHILDREN AMONG 8 HURT

IN BORDENTOWN TWP. CRASH

Eight people, three of them children, were injured yesterday in a car crash in
Bordentown Township, authorities said. Two boys, ages 6 months and 1 year, and a
7-year-old girl were in stable condition last night at Cooper Hospital-
University Medical Center, Camden, with multiple injuries, authorities said. Two
women, ages 20 and 22, were listed in stable condition at the hospital. All five
were taken to the hospital by helicopter.

A 21-year-old woman who was driving the car they were in was taken to St.
Francis Medical Center in Trenton and later was released. The driver of the
other car, a 24-year-old man, and his female passenger also were treated at St.
Francis Medical Center and released, a hospital official said. Police would not
release their names.

The crash happened about 3:15 p.m. as the man was driving south on Hogback Road,
police said. The woman driving the other car was going west on Highbridge Road
and went through a stop sign at the Hogback Road intersection, police said. The
woman's car was hit broadside and overturned on a lawn, police said. The man's
car hit a telephone pole, according to police.

STUDENT FROM ALLENTOWN

SERIOUS AFTER FALL FROM ROOF

A Syracuse University student was in serious condition yesterday after he fell
from a third-story roof during a party, authorities said. Witnesses told police
that Steven J. Hatzai, 23, of Allentown, was intoxicated when he arrived at the
off-campus party.

"I got to the party an hour earlier and Steve was already here drinking. He
seemed to be pretty intoxicated," said Douglas Steinberg, 20. A witness told
police Hatzai climbed onto the roof of the third-floor porch about 1:30 a.m. and
swung himself back and forth from the eave before someone grabbed his legs and
made him stop.

Hatzai climbed back onto the roof and was pulled back once more, but the third
time he went out he fell face-first onto the sidewalk, police said. Officers
said the fall was accidental. Hatzai is a senior majoring in visual and
performing arts.

LEAKY VALVE DELAYS RESTART

OF SALEM 2 NUCLEAR REACTOR

A leaky water valve forced technicians to shut down the Salem 2 nuclear reactor
yesterday morning as they attempted to restart the plant for the first time
since a November fire.

Plant operators had brought the 1,150-megawatt reactor in Lower Alloways Creek
Township, N.J., to about 5 percent power when it automatically stopped around 2
a.m., said Michaele Camp, a spokeswoman for Public Service Electric & Gas, which
runs the plant. Camp said there was no danger of any radiation release, and
added that the reactor is not expected to be restarted until late Wednesday.
Camp said tests soon revealed the cause was a leaky check valve, which helps
regulate water levels in the plant's non-nuclear steam turbine system.

Technicians began the 72-hour restart process Friday. They hoped to bring the
plant on line for the first time since Nov. 9, when it was disabled by one of
the worst turbine incidents ever at a nuclear plant. A turbine spun out of
control in a non-nuclear section of the plant and demolished the electrical
generator.

TESTS INCONCLUSIVE ON BODY

FOUND NEAR EXPLOSION SITE

Tests to determine whether a body found in a wooded area of Washington County
is that of a missing car dealer were inconclusive, the county coroner said
yesterday.

Coroner Timothy Warco said the dental records of Art Jones, who has not been
seen since his house blew up in September, "were inconclusive to make a positive
identification." Further tests were scheduled for todaymon in Pittsburgh. A
hunter found the body on Saturday over a cliff several hundred yards from the
site of the Jones house in Fallowfield Township.

Jones has been missing since the house was leveled in a Sept. 18 propane blast.

PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS

TO HOLD FAIR AT THE GALLERY

The School District of Philadelphia is sponsoring its School Fair tomorrow and
Wednesday at the Gallery at Market East. The fair is held each year to give
parents a chance to learn about programs in the district's public schools.

More than 20 booths, exhibits and activities will be on display on the lower
level of the Gallery from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. They include computer
demonstrations, chess challenges, arts and crafts, and math and science games.

There also will be musical, athletic and artistic demonstrations on center
stage. The event is free and open to the public.



Section: LOCAL
Page: B02

Copyright (c) 1992 The Philadelphia Inquirer

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: TESTS UNABLE TO TELL IF REMAINS ARE THOSE OF CAR DEALER JONES
Author: JANET WILLIAMS AND MARY NIEDERBERGER , THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: April 27, 1992
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Forensic tests to determine the identity of a badly decomposed body found near
the home of a missing Washington County auto dealer are inconclusive, county
Coroner Timothy Warco said.

"It's a slow process because what we've got is partially skeletalized remains
with teeth missing," Warco said yesterday after some of the teeth

from the body were compared with the dental records of Art Jones.Jones has been
considered a missing person since his home was leveled by a propane gas
explosion.

The coroner and state and local police are trying to determine whether the body
found Saturday in a wooded area near Jones' Fallowfield Township home is that of
the missing car dealer. Jones, 55, was last seen the evening before the Sept. 18
explosion.

Warco said the remains were brought to Pittsburgh for an autopsy by a
pathologist from the Allegheny County coroner's office. The autopsy wasn't
completed yesterday because the coroner's office had two other homicides with
which to deal.

The body was so badly decomposed that investigators were unable to determine its
sex or age, Warco said.

He said the body was found along a wooded area over a steep embankment about 700
yards from the site of Jones' home. A turkey hunter driving along old Route 71
toward Charleroi told authorities he spotted something unusual while scanning
the hillside. He stopped his car, climbed up the hill for a closer look and
found the body.

Jones' home was located at the end of Park Road at its intersection with Esther
Street in the Rodgers Manor housing plan. The area to the rear and one side of
the home is wooded and there is a steep dropoff down an embankment behind the
home down to old Route 71.

Robert Bojarski, who lives next to the site of Jones' home, said today the body
was found about 70 feet up a steep hillside from old Route 71 and on the
Charleroi side of three homes which sit below Jones' property at the bottom of
the hillside.

"There was debris all over those houses after the explosion. One house had
bricks and insulation all over the roof," Bojarski said.

The body was found directly below West Penn Power lines which run up the
hillside from Route 71 into the Rodgers Manor housing plan, he said.

Bojarksi said the garage door from Jones' home was found and measured 180 feet
over that steep embankment directly behind the home. Some debris was found at
Clineman's Restaurant nearly a quarter-mile away down old Route 71 and other
debris was found in yards all over the housing plan, he said.

Fallowfield Police Chief Sam Woncheck said the area where the body was found was
not searched by rescue personnel after the explosion. Bojarski said the hillside
was too steep there for anyone to go over it to look..

A superficial examination of the remains showed no signs of a homicide, but
pathologists had not closely examined the body, the Washington County coroner
said, adding he has classified the death as suspicious.

Warco said the examination of the dental records, by Dr. Michael N. Sobel, a
forensic odontologist, will continue and a full autopsy of the body will be
conducted.

Jones, owner of the Art Jones-Bendik-Lancaster Buick Inc. dealership in
Charleroi, Washington County, was divorced and had lived in the Park Road house
since May 1990. He was last seen by a neighbor at about 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17 as he
drove into the driveway of his home.

The source of the explosion was determined to be propane gas that was used to
heat the home.

Authorities initially believed Jones was killed in the explosion because his
1991 Buick Park Avenue and Jeep were found in the garage.

But later, after repeated searches of the rubble showed no trace of Jones, the
Fallowfield police, state police fire marshal and the federal Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms concluded that he was not in the house when the blast
occurred.

In addition, forensic expert Dr. Cyril Wecht, who was hired by Jones' family,
said he found no evidence of human remains in the rubble.

Jones' four children had criticized the manner in which local investigators used
a backhoe in their search. The children -- a daughter and three sons -- charged
that Jones' remains and evidence that could have established how the blast
occurred could have been blended together and placed in large piles.

Jones' disappearance was featured on the television show "Unsolved Mysteries" in
early November, prompting several calls to local police.

About three weeks after Jones disappeared, his company went out of business when
Mellon Bank took possession of the cars and auto parts at the Charleroi
dealership.

The bank later sold the vehicles in an effort to recover more than $821,000 of a
$950,000 loan Jones owed the bank.

In December, Washington County President Judge Thomas D. Gladden appointed
attorney William E. Speakman Jr. permanent trustee over Jones' affairs.

Gladden declared Jones an absentee and appointed Speakman as permanent trustee
so Jones' legal and financial affairs could be dealt with promptly.



Author: JANET WILLIAMS AND MARY NIEDERBERGER , THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Copyright (c) 1992 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: TESTS UNABLE TO TELL IF REMAINS ARE THOSE OF CAR DEALER JONES
Author: JANET WILLIAMS AND MARY NIEDERBERGER , THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: April 27, 1992
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Forensic tests to determine the identity of a badly decomposed body found near
the home of a missing Washington County auto dealer are inconclusive, county
Coroner Timothy Warco said.

"It's a slow process because what we've got is partially skeletalized remains
with teeth missing," Warco said yesterday after some of the teeth

from the body were compared with the dental records of Art Jones.Jones has been
considered a missing person since his home was leveled by a propane gas
explosion.

The coroner and state and local police are trying to determine whether the body
found Saturday in a wooded area near Jones' Fallowfield Township home is that of
the missing car dealer. Jones, 55, was last seen the evening before the Sept. 18
explosion.

Warco said the remains were brought to Pittsburgh for an autopsy by a
pathologist from the Allegheny County coroner's office. The autopsy wasn't
completed yesterday because the coroner's office had two other homicides with
which to deal.

The body was so badly decomposed that investigators were unable to determine its
sex or age, Warco said.

Fallowfield Police Chief Sam Woncheck said the body was found down a steep cliff
about 700 yards southeast (toward Charleroi) from the back left corner of Jones'
property. A hunter driving along old Route 21 toward Charleroi saw something
unusual while scanning the hillside for turkey and deer from his car. He climbed
up the hillside to investigate and found the body about 100 feet up from the
bottom of the hillside, below an overhanging ledge.

The body was found below a West Penn Power Co. power line which runs up the
hillside into the housing plan. The site is about a quarter-mile east from
Clineman's Restaurant and about 100 yards east of three homes at the bottom of
the hillside.

Robert Bojarski, who lives next door to Jones' property on Park Road, said
''there was debris all over those houses after the explosion. One house had
bricks and insulation all over the roof."

In the hours and days after the explosion, Woncheck said authorities searched
the wooded hillside directly behind Jones' property all the way down to old
Route 71 and 200 yards to the east and southeast. The search extended to the
power line right-of-way, but only across the top of the hillside before it drops
over the cliff, he said.

Woncheck noted Jones' family had search dogs brought in to check down over the
steep hillside after the explosion, but they found nothing, he said.

A superficial examination of the remains showed no signs of a homicide, but
pathologists had not closely examined the body, the Washington County coroner
said, adding he has classified the death as suspicious.

Warco said the examination of the dental records, by Dr. Michael N. Sobel, a
forensic odontologist, will continue and a full autopsy of the body will be
conducted.

Jones, owner of the Art Jones-Bendik-Lancaster Buick Inc. dealership in
Charleroi, Washington County, was divorced and had lived in the Park Road house
since May 1990. He was last seen by a neighbor at about 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17 as he
drove into the driveway of his home.

The source of the explosion was determined to be propane gas that was used to
heat the home.

Authorities initially believed Jones was killed in the explosion because his
1991 Buick Park Avenue and Jeep were found in the garage.

But later, after repeated searches of the rubble showed no trace of Jones, the
Fallowfield police, state police fire marshal and the federal Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms concluded that he was not in the house when the blast
occurred.

In addition, forensic expert Dr. Cyril Wecht, who was hired by Jones' family,
said he found no evidence of human remains in the rubble.

Jones' four children had criticized the manner in which local investigators used
a backhoe in their search. The children -- a daughter and three sons -- charged
that Jones' remains and evidence that could have established how the blast
occurred could have been blended together and placed in large piles.

Jones' disappearance was featured on the television show "Unsolved Mysteries" in
early November, prompting several calls to local police.

About three weeks after Jones disappeared, his company went out of business when
Mellon Bank took possession of the cars and auto parts at the Charleroi
dealership.

The bank later sold the vehicles in an effort to recover more than $821,000 of a
$950,000 loan Jones owed the bank.

In December, Washington County President Judge Thomas D. Gladden appointed
attorney William E. Speakman Jr. permanent trustee over Jones' affairs.

Gladden declared Jones an absentee and appointed Speakman as permanent trustee
so Jones' legal and financial affairs could be dealt with promptly.



Author: JANET WILLIAMS AND MARY NIEDERBERGER , THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Copyright (c) 1992 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: BODY FOUND IN FALLOWFIELD
Date: April 26, 1992
Section: LOCAL
Page: B8

An autopsy was scheduled today to determine if a body found in Fallowfield
Township, Washington County, was that of car dealer Art Jones, missing since a
propane gas explosion leveled his township home last Sept. 18.

A spokeswoman for Washington County Coroner Tim Warco declined to give any
information and said a statement would be released today.The body was found
along Old Route 71 by a passerby, a Fallowfield officer said.

Jones, 55, was last seen by a neighbor the evening of Sept. 17 as he drove into
the driveway of his home on Park Road.

Repeated searches of the rubble produced no trace of the auto dealer.



Section: LOCAL
Page: B8

Copyright (c) 1992 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Houston Chronicle
Title: Gone in a flash - Simple man with quiet life vanishes after home explodes
Author: MICHAEL deCOURCY HINDS
Date: FEBRUARY 2, 1992
Section: A NEWS
Page: 13

FALLOWFIELD, Pa. -- One night last September, Arthur J. Jones returned home from
an ordinary day in an apparently simple life, a life his family and friends say
was devoted to selling cars, smoking cigars and watching reruns of "Hogan's
Heroes" on television.But Jones' life became western Pennsylvania's most
intriguing mystery early the next morning, when his house exploded and he
vanished without a trace.

Art Jones, as he used to introduce himself, was last seen at 7:15 p.m. on Sept.
17. A neighbor said she waved to Jones as he drove into the garage under his
ranch-style home in Fallowfield, a former mill town 28 miles south of
Pittsburgh.

Seven hours later a propane gas furnace in the basement exploded, leveling
Jones' house and catapulting pieces of windows and burning walls over the
hillside of the modest subdivision.

The blast cracked the foundations of one nearby house, and, in another, broke a
kitchen clock at 2:36 a.m.

Neighbors, jolted from their beds, said that 60-foot flames engulfed the house
and that they knew in an instant that Jones could not have survived.

But firefighters poked through the rubble for 19 hours and did not find any sign
of a body. Family members, forensic pathologists, trained hounds and psychics
later joined the search, but discovered nothing further.

Experts said the explosion, which is considered suspicious, did not produce
enough heat for a long enough time to vaporize a body, and a few days after the
explosion, the police declared Jones a missing person.

"This may be the biggest mystery in the Pittsburgh area since 1956," said Samuel
S. Woncheck, the police chief in Fallowfield. That was the year, he said, that
"everybody saw a B-25 Mitchell Bomber crash land in the Monongahela River just
below Pittsburgh, but nobody could ever find the plane."

The story of Jones, who apparently had nothing to gain by disappearing, has
entered the local folklore.

Thousands of people have come to see the charred concrete slab, all that is left
of Jones' home. Newspapers and television stations regularly report on local and
federal investigations, saying that nothing substantive has been turned up.
Radio shows have offered rewards for information about his whereabouts,
interviewed psychics and incorporated Jones' story into their repertory of
tasteless jokes and jingles.

Jones, who was 55 at the time of his disappearance, did not leave a big
footprint.

Family members and friends say he was a workaholic who had few friends or
interests outside his Buick dealership. He was born in Pittsburgh, graduated
from high school in Pittsburgh, served in the Army and began his automotive
career in a gasoline station in Pittsburgh. He married and had four children.
After more than 25 years, his marriage ended in divorce in 1984.

James, Jones' youngest son, described his relationship with his father recently
while standing on the site of the charred house.

"He was your basic business dad," he said, adding that, for the last year, "we
lived in the same house but were never in the same room."

James, 21, is a junior at the California University of Pennsylvania in the
nearby city of California.

His older brother, David, a 25-year-old free-lance photographer, has not ruled
out any possibility, including one that his father was cremated in the explosion
and fire.

Jones' daughter, Lisa Blohm, 32, said she does not know whether to be angry or
sad.

"I've got a lot of anger if he turned around and walked out," she said. "But I
know my father, and he was not capable of up and leaving like this."

But H. Charles Perlick, a special agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms in Pittsburgh, which routinely investigates suspicious
explosions, says people sometimes behave out of character.

"Last year a very conservative banker, a family man, a pillar of a community 60
miles away from here disappeared," Perlick said.

"The banker showed up six weeks later in Las Vegas. He just decided to change
his life. Hey! You know, Art Jones must have heard about the banker. Maybe
there's a connection. I'll have to explore this," he said, and hung up.

Author: MICHAEL deCOURCY HINDS
Section: A NEWS
Page: 13

Copyright 1992 Houston Chronicle

****************************************************

Paper: THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Title: `Business Dad's' Disappearance Stirs up Western Pennsylvania
Author: Michael deCourcy Hinds
Date: January 20, 1992
Section: NEWS
Page: A3

One night last September, Arthur J. Jones returned home from an ordinary day in
an apparently simple life, a life his family and friends say was devoted to
selling cars, smoking cigars and watching reruns of ``Hogan's Heroes'' on
television.But Jones' life became western Pennsylvania's most intriguing mystery
early the next morning, when his house exploded and he vanished without a trace.

Art Jones, as he used to introduce himself, was last seen at 7:15 p.m. on
September 17. A neighbor said she waved to Jones as he drove into the garage
under his ranch-style home in Fallowfield, a former mill town 28 miles south of
Pittsburgh.

Seven hours later a propane gas furnace in the basement exploded, leveling
Jones' house and catapulting pieces of windows and burning walls over the
hillside of the modest subdivision.

The blast cracked the foundations of one nearby house, and, in another, broke
a kitchen clock at 2:36 a.m.

Neighbors, jolted from their beds, said that 60-foot flames engulfed the
house and that they knew in an instant that Jones could not have survived.

VAPORIZATION DOUBTED

But firefighters poked through the rubble for 19 hours and found no sign of a
body. Family members, forensic pathologists and trained hounds later joined the
search, but discovered nothing further.

Experts said the explosion, which is considered suspicious, did not produce
enough heat for a long enough time to vaporize a body. A few days after the
explosion, the police declared Jones a missing person.

``This may be the biggest mystery in the Pittsburgh area since 1956,'' said
Samuel S. Woncheck, the police chief in Fallowfield. That was the year, he said,
that ``everybody saw a B-25 Mitchell Bomber crash land in the Monongahela River
just below Pittsburgh, but nobody could ever find the plane.''

The story of Jones, who apparently had nothing to gain by disappearing, has
entered the local folklore.

Thousands of people have come to see the charred concrete slab, all that is
left of Jones' home. Newspapers and television stations regularly report on
local and federal investigations, saying that nothing substantive has turned up.
Radio shows have offered rewards for information about his whereabouts,
interviewed psychics and incorporated Jones' story into their repertory of
tasteless jokes and jingles.

NOT MUCH TO GO ON

Jones, who was 55 at the time of his disappearance, did not leave a big
footprint.

Family members and friends say he was a workaholic who had few friends or
interests outside his Buick dealership. He was born in Pittsburgh, graduated
from high school there, served in the Army and began his automotive career in a
gasoline station back in the city. He married and had four children. After more
than 25 years, his marriage ended in divorce in 1984.

James, Jones' youngest son, described his relationship with his father
recently while standing on the site of the charred house.

``He was your basic business dad,'' he said, adding that, for the last year,
``we lived in the same house but were never in the same room.''

Author: Michael deCourcy Hinds
Section: NEWS
Page: A3

Copyright 1992 San Francisco Chronicle

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: LAWYER NOW PERMANENT TRUSTEE OF MISSING CAR DEALER'S ESTATE
Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: December 19, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: B7

Attorney William E. Speakman Jr. has been appointed permanent trustee over the
affairs of missing Washington County car dealer Art Jones.

"I have seen or heard nothing that would give me any indication of where he is,
or if he is alive," Speakman testified during a hearing yesterday before
President Judge Thomas D. Gladden in Washington County Orphan's Court.Gladden
declared Jones an absentee and appointed Speakman as permanent trustee so Jones'
legal and financial affairs could be dealt with promptly.

The judge waived the normal one-year waiting period before appointment of a
permanent trustee in order to protect Jones' estate. A permanent trustee can
make most day-to-day decisions about the estate without court approval.

Jones, 55, was last seen by a neighbor about 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17 as he drove into
the driveway of his home on Park Road in Fallowfield Township, Washington
County. About 2:35 a.m. Sept. 18, an explosion leveled Jones' home.

Propane gas used to heat the home was determined to be the source of the
explosion, but what caused the gas to explode is under investigation by the U.S.
Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Authorities originally thought Jones was killed in the explosion because his
1991 Buick Park Avenue and a Jeep -- both owned by the now-closed Art
Jones-Bendik-Lancaster Buick dealership in Charleroi -- were found in the
garage.

However, repeated searches of the rubble found no trace of Jones.

Speakman, an estates attorney whose law office is in Washington, was appointed
temporary trustee Oct. 11, pending efforts to locate Jones.

Despite published legal notices and the efforts of local and federal
investigators, Speakman testified yesterday that "none of them has indicated to
me they have found any trace of him."

Speakman testified that the assets of Jones' estate "are substantial" and that
potential claims against those assets "are even more substantial."

Unless a permanent trustee was appointed to manage the affairs of Jones' estate,
Speakman testified, "I feel confident the creditors would seize and levy upon
(the assets) in a manner that would be far less ideal to the estate."

Mellon Bank has sold the vehicles from Jones' former Buick dealership in an
effort to recover more than $821,000 of a $950,000 loan Jones owed the bank.
Speakman also has auctioned off office furnishings and equipment, but has
declined to reveal how much was raised.

There had been some controversy between Speakman and Mellon Bank about

funds belonging to Jones in the bank's control, but the attorneys indicated
yesterday that might become moot if plans proceed to sell the Buick franchise to
C. Harper Chevrolet-Geo Inc. in Rostraver, Westmoreland County.

The franchise sale would give Speakman funds to set aside for payment of costs
and fees connected with administration of Jones' estate, according to court
papers filed yesterday.

Gladden set a hearing for March 5 to consider approval of Speakman's petition to
sell the Buick franchise.



Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: B7

Copyright (c) 1991 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH)
Title: PROBE TURNS TO MISSING CAR DEALER'S RECORDS
Date: October 21, 1991
Section: STATE & REGION
Page: 4C

Investigators pored over a missing car dealer's bank records to see if cash had
been withdrawn since the man's house was destroyed in an explosion a month ago.

A federal judge granted the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
access to information about accounts held by Art Jones, 55. He has been missing
since the blast on Sept. 18 in Fallowfield Township, Washington County.The
firearms bureau is helping local police with the investigation.

Reviewing bank records is typical when investigating a missing person,
Samuel Woncheck, chief of the township police, said Wednesday. Police will check
the amounts of the accounts and look for any transactions made since the
explosion, he said.

Among the banks checked will be Mellon Bank, where Jones had a $950,000 line
of credit for Art Jones Bendik-Lancaster Buick in Charleroi. The bank is selling
cars from the dealership to pay off Jones' $821,424 debt.

No human remains were found in the rubble of the house. Propane caused the
blast, but it remains unknown what ignited the fuel. Jones' family hired a
private pathologist, Cyril Wecht, to investigate.

Earlier this year, transactions at automatic teller machines helped West
Virginia authorities track William Coleman, the president of a bank in Westover,
W.Va., who didn't return to work from lunch one afternoon.

Coleman was found at a casino in Nevada. Woncheck said that Jones' case
probably mirrors Coleman's and that Jones probably is hiding somewhere outside
Pennsylvania.

Washington County Judge Thomas Gladden has appointed a temporary trustee to
oversee Jones' estate. Gladden's order gives William Speakman Jr. power to take
charge of and protect the estate, including the dealership.

Speakman, of Washington, also is authorized to "receive reports and
communications from law enforcement and investigatory agencies concerning the
whereabouts of the alleged absentee."

Speakman was appointed trustee at the request of Jones' four grown children.
Each would receive one-fourth of Jones' estate under his will.

Section: STATE & REGION
Page: 4C

Copyright 1991, 2002 The Plain Dealer. All Rights Reserved. Used by NewsBank
with Permission.

****************************************************

Paper: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Title: BANK-RECORD REVIEW SET ON MISSING MAN
Author: Associated Press
Date: October 18, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: B04

Investigators will examine a missing car dealer's bank records to see whether
cash had been withdrawn since the man's house was destroyed in an explosion
about a month ago.

A federal judge granted the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms access
to information about accounts held by Art Jones, 55, who has been missing since
the blast Sept. 18 at his home in Fallowfield Township, Washington County.
Reviewing bank records is typical when investigating a missing person, Samuel
Woncheck, chief of the township police, said Wednesday.



Author: Associated Press
Section: LOCAL
Page: B04

Copyright (c) 1991 The Philadelphia Inquirer

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: OFFICIALS HOPE BANK DATA WILL LEAD TO CAR DEALER
Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: October 16, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: C1

Investigators have obtained a subpoena granting them access to the bank records
of Art Jones, the Washington County car dealer who disappeared after an
explosion destroyed his home Sept. 18.

In a related development, Washington County President Judge Thomas D. Gladden
has appointed a temporary trustee to oversee Jones' estate. The appointment is
not expected to prevent Mellon Bank from selling the inventory of cars at the
closed Art Jones Bendik-Lancaster Buick in Charleroi.Fallowfield Township Police
Chief Samuel Woncheck said yesterday the subpoena was obtained last week in
federal court and requires banks with accounts in Jones' name to release
information about the amounts of the accounts and details about any activity in
them.

Woncheck would not identify the banks other than Mellon, where Jones had a line
of credit for his business.

Woncheck said investigators want to see whether there has been any activity in
the accounts since Jones, 55, disappeared. He has not been reported seen since
the evening of Sept. 17, seven hours before the explosion leveled his home in
the Rodgers Manor housing plan in Fallowfield. No human remains were found in
the rubble.

Reviewing bank records is a normal step in a missing-person investigation,
Woncheck said. Earlier this year, transactions at automatic banking machines
helped West Virginia authorities track a bank president, William E. Coleman of
Morgantown, to a hotel-casino in Nevada.

Woncheck said he believes Jones' disappearance mirrors Coleman's and that Jones
is in hiding someplace outside of Pennsylvania. The subpoena for Jones' bank
records was obtained by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms,
which is assisting Fallowfield police in the investigation.

BATF arson-explosives investigators have determined that propane gas used to
heat Jones' home caused the explosion, but how the propane was ignited is
undetermined.

Earlier this month, Jones' car dealership closed and Mellon Bank took possession
after filing a complaint for judgment for $821,424 against Jones in Allegheny
County Common Pleas Court.

Mellon Bank said it acted because Jones' absence left no one legally in charge
and because the dealership had failed to make payments on a $950,000 line of
credit Jones took out last year and renewed Aug. 6. The complaint seeks
$710,213.27 in principal, $4,679.13 in interest and $106,531.99 in attorney
fees.

Judge Gladden appointed attorney William E. Speakman Jr. of Washington, Pa., as
temporary trustee late Friday in response to a petition filed by Keith A. Bassi
of Charleroi, Jones' personal attorney.

Bassi filed the petition at the request of Jones' four grown children -- Lisa
Jones Blohm and Frank, David and James Jones. Each would receive a fourth of
Jones' estate under Jones' will, which was attached to the petition.

The will also grants David Jones possession of his father's boat. Jones' sister,
Janet Faith Machesky, who also is executrix of the will, would have received
possession of Jones' home, furnishings, clothing and personal effects, nearly
all of which were destroyed in the blast.

Mark Blohm, husband of Jones' daughter, Lisa, said the children had hoped to
have a family member appointed as trustee, but Gladden thought an independent
appointee would be best.

Gladden's order gives Speakman power to take charge of and protect Jones'
estate, including the business affairs of the car dealership. Speakman also is
authorized to "receive reports and communications from law enforcement and
investigatory agencies concerning the whereabouts of the alleged absentee."

Attorney Reed Davis, who represented Mellon Bank at the trustee hearing, said he
does not believe the appointment will stall the bank's planned sale of the
dealership's inventory.



Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: C1

Copyright (c) 1991 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: BANK SEIZES VANISHED CAR DEALER'S FIRM, ASSETS
Author: MATTHEW P. SMITH, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: October 5, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: B1

A little less than three weeks after Washington County car dealer Art Jones
disappeared, his company has gone out of business.

Mellon Bank yesterday took possession of the cars and auto parts at Jones'
Charleroi dealership, Bendik-Lancaster Buick, with the intention of

liquidating the company's assets, said Mellon spokesman J.T. Tuskan.The action
came a day after Mellon filed a complaint for judgment for $821,424 against
Jones, who hasn't been seen since his split-entry home in Fallowfield was
destroyed by an explosion Sept. 18. No human remains were found in the rubble.

Most of the dealership's employees, including general manager John Markulike,
resigned yesterday.

"I resigned because I don't want to be a part of the liquidation," Markulike
said. "Yesterday (Thursday) they said they were taking control of all the
assets. It meant we had no control over anything anymore."

The complaint for judgment, filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court,
includes $710,213.27 in principal, $4,679.13 in interest and $106,531.99 in
attorney's fees.

The bank said in court documents it acted because the dealership failed to make
payments on a $950,000 line of credit Jones took out last year and renewed Aug.
6.

Markulike said Mellon filed the complaint because the dealership was late on its
interest payment.

"The $4,769 is all that was owed, but it had to be paid by the end of the month
and it wasn't," Markulike said.

Mellon officials have accounted for the $710,000 in principal, Markulike said.

"I just didn't want people to have the impression that there was $710,000 that
couldn't be recovered."

Markulike said it has been difficult to conduct business since Jones disappeared
-- the dealership had sold only five cars since Sept. 18.

"I'm not saying Mellon was premature. In this

situation, it was probably the right thing to do. I guess I'm sort of glad
somebody made a move because we were more or less wallowing," Markulike said.

The company had about $7,000 in its checking account at the end of the day
yesterday, Markulike said.

Tuskan said Mellon had not determined what it will do with the 40 or 50 cars
that remain on the lot, but said the bank likely will hold a liquidation sale
soon.

Tuskan said the bank also filed papers in Washington County yesterday that would
enable it to be paid ahead of any other creditors.



Author: MATTHEW P. SMITH, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: B1

Copyright (c) 1991 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: MELLON ACTS TO RECOVER $821,424 FROM MISSING CAR DEALER
Author: LAWRENCE WALSH, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: October 4, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: B1

Mellon Bank has filed a complaint for an $821,424 judgment against Art Jones,
the Washington County car dealer who hasn't been seen since an explosion leveled
his home 2 1/2 weeks ago.

The complaint, filed yesterday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, includes
$710,213.27 in principal, $4,679.13 in interest and $106,531.99 in attorney's
fees. The fees are based on 15 percent of the outstanding principal.The court
action stems from a routine line of credit Jones has with the bank to buy cars
for his dealership.

According to documents filed with the court, the bank acted because Jones'
Charleroi dealership -- Bendik-Lancaster Buick -- has failed to make payments on
the note Jones took out last year and renewed Aug. 6.

"The guaranteed obligations of Bendik-Lancaster Buick Co. are in default," the
documents say.

The judgment must be approved by a Common Pleas judge before the bank can move
to collect on the debt.

Citing client confidentiality, bank spokesman Thomas Butch declined to disclose
the amount of the payments or when Jones was to pay them.

John Markulike, general manager of the dealership, said he was served with
copies of the judgment yesterday and turned them over to the company's
attorneys.

"I was expecting something like this would happen," he said. He declined to
elaborate.

Jones signed a promissory note for $950,000 Aug. 6 that Butch described as ''an
adjustment in his (Jones') line of credit." He declined to say whether the
adjustment was up or down.

The interest rate on the note is 3 percent above the bank's prime rate, which
now is 8 percent.

Butch said Jones signed similar notes in the past to buy cars for the
dealership. When he sold a car, a portion of the proceeds was paid to the bank.

"It (the note) was credit he used to buy and sell inventory."

Butch said the financial arrangement is similar to home equity loans property
owners take out to make improvements to their homes.

The bank approves a loan for a certain amount, and a property owner can use all
or some of that amount. As the loan is repaid, more money becomes available for
other improvements.

Butch stopped short of saying the bank filed the judgment because of Jones'
disappearance.

"His (Jones') absence from the dealership has made it difficult for the
dealership to conduct business in the same manner when he was at the helm," he
said.

The filing of the judgment was "based on a fiscal reality," said Butch,
referring to the fact that the money is owed and at least two payments were
missed.

Jones' disappearance has mystified his family and authorities since the
explosion at his home in Fallowfield Sept. 18.

Concerns that Jones may be the victim of a crime were heightened Wednesday after
forensics expert Dr. Cyril Wecht said he found no evidence of human remains in
the rubble of the home.

Wecht, former Allegheny County coroner, was hired by Jones' family. Fallowfield
police, the state police fire marshal and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms had already concluded that Jones was not in the house at the time
of the explosion.

Family members could not be reached for comment on the judgment Mellon filed.



Author: LAWRENCE WALSH, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: B1

Copyright (c) 1991 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: MYSTERY DEEPENS WAS MISSING CAR DEALER A CRIME VICTIM ?
Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: October 3, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Forensics expert Dr. Cyril Wecht found no evidence of human remains among
materials retrieved from the rubble of Art Jones' Washington County home last
week by family members and friends.

Wecht's finding heightened concerns that the missing car dealer may have been a
crime victim.The mystery has been further fueled by a check Jones apparently
mailed to a Pittsburgh cigar company.

Wecht, former Allegheny County coroner hired by the Jones family, said yesterday
his X-ray and microscopic studies found no evidence that Jones was present when
a propane explosion early Sept. 18 leveled the split-entry home in Fallowfield.

"There was no organic matter or bone fragments," Wecht said of the materials
turned over by family members. "I have to believe that there is no physical
evidence from a biological standpoint that he was in that debris."

Fallowfield police, the state police fire marshal and the federal Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have already concluded that Jones was not in the
house when the blast occurred.

But Mark Blohm, Jones' son-in-law, said family members hired Wecht and conducted
their own search on the chance that something may have been missed when the
rubble was moved around by volunteer firefighters using a backhoe.

"We had to be sure in our own minds," Blohm said. "I hate to say we were hoping
to find his remains in there because I know some people will take that the wrong
way. But, oh God, that would have at least given us an answer. Right now, we
just don't know what to think."

"The family has nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about," Wecht said of
the independent search. "They are genuinely concerned about the whereabouts of
Mr. Jones."

Wecht said that based on Jones' past habits and lifestyle, "everything now
points against a scenario where he wouldn't just walk away and not tell anyone.

"I believe that the weight of reasonable evidence now is that there is foul play
involved here and not with the body at the scene. The explosion could be just
coincidence or it could be an attempt to cover up a fracas in the house where
someone was beaten or shot or stabbed. The way it is now, we don't know
anything. I feel sorry for the family because everything is up in the air."

Further questions have been raised with the discovery of a check Jones
apparently mailed to the Bloom Cigar Co. on Pittsburgh's South Side.

Norman Stoller, an employee at the cigar company where Jones has bought his
cigars for years, told The Pittsburgh Press that Jones called the company on
Sept. 16 and ordered four boxes of his favorite Bances cigars at $40 per box.

Stoller, who took the call and has dealt with Jones for years, said Jones
indicated that "everything was OK" and seemed his usual self during the brief
conversation.

Because the cigar company only had two boxes of Bances, Stoller said he included
two boxes of Punch cigars made by the same manufacturer in the order and sent it
that same day by parcel service to Jones' home in Fallowfield.

Jones apparently wrote a check for the order -- $172.60 with tax and delivery --
on Sept. 17, Stoller said. The check, placed in an envelope with the car
dealership's label on it, was received by the cigar company with a Pittsburgh
postmark stamped "Sept. 18 P.M."

Stoller said he thought the payment was unusual for two reasons.

"Art never paid right away," he said. "He always waited for the statement three
or four weeks later, then he would send us a check."

Stoller said he also thought it was strange that the check was postmarked the
afternoon of Sept. 18 since the explosion happened that morning. However, he
noted that it was possible that Jones mailed the check after 5 p.m. on Sept. 17
and the letter did not go through the Pittsburgh processing center on the North
Side until the next afternoon.

A neighbor has reported previously that Jones had left his house in his car for
a brief time on the evening of Sept. 17 and returned about 7:30 p.m., when he
was last seen. Jones' car, a 1991 Buick Park Avenue, was later found in the
rubble of the home.

Blohm said Jones' disappearance has been "like going into a tunnel with no light
at the end of it. I daydream and all I see is a big question mark."



Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Copyright (c) 1991 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: MYSTERY DEEPENS WECHT SEARCH FOR MISSING CAR DEALER FAILS
Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: October 3, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Forensics expert Dr. Cyril Wecht found no trace of human remains among materials
retrieved from the rubble of Art Jones' Washington County home last week by
family members and friends.

Wecht, former Allegheny County coroner hired by the Jones family, said
yesterday his X-ray and microscopic studies found no evidence that Jones was
present when a propane explosion leveled the split-entry home in Fallowfield
early Sept. 18."There was no organic matter or bone fragments," Wecht said of
the materials turned over by family members. "I have to believe that there is no
physical evidence from a biological standpoint that he was in that debris."

Wecht's finding heightened his speculation that the missing car dealer may have
been a crime victim.

The mystery has been further fueled by a check Jones apparently wrote to a
Pittsburgh cigar company the day before the explosion.

Fallowfield police, the state police fire marshal and the federal Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have already concluded that Jones was not in the
house when the blast occurred.

But Mark Blohm, Jones' son-in-law, said family members hired Wecht and conducted
their own search on the chance that something may have been missed when the
rubble was moved around by volunteer firefighters using a backhoe.

"We had to be sure in our own minds," Blohm said. "I hate to say we were hoping
to find his remains in there because I know some people will take that the wrong
way. But, oh God, that would have at least given us an answer. Right now, we
just don't know what to think."

"The family has nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about," Wecht said of
the independent search. "They are genuinely concerned about the whereabouts of
Mr. Jones."

Wecht said that based on Jones' past habits and lifestyle, "everything now
points against a scenario where he wouldn't just walk away and not tell anyone.

"I believe that the weight of reasonable evidence now is that there is foul play
involved here and not with the body at the scene. The explosion could be just
coincidence or it could be an attempt to cover up a fracas in the house where
someone was beaten or shot or stabbed. The way it is now, we don't know
anything. I feel sorry for the family because everything is up in the air."

Further questions have been raised with the discovery of a check Jones
apparently mailed to the Bloom Cigar Co. on Pittsburgh's South Side.

Norman Stoller, an employee at the cigar company where Jones has bought his
cigars for years, told The Pittsburgh Press that Jones called the company on
Sept. 16 and ordered four boxes of his favorite Bances cigars at $40 per box.

Stoller, who took the call and has dealt with Jones for years, said Jones
indicated that "everything was OK" and seemed his usual self during the brief
conversation.

Because the cigar company only had two boxes of Bances, Stoller said he included
two boxes of Punch cigars made by the same manufacturer in the order and sent it
that same day by parcel service to Jones' home in Fallowfield.

Jones apparently wrote a check for the order -- $172.60 with tax and delivery --
on Sept. 17, Stoller said. The check, placed in an envelope with the car
dealership's label on it, was received by the cigar company with a Pittsburgh
postmark stamped "Sept. 18 P.M."

Stoller said he thought the payment was unusual for two reasons.

"Art never paid right away," he said. "He always waited for the statement three
or four weeks later, then he would send us a check."

Stoller said he also thought it was strange that the check was postmarked the
afternoon of Sept. 18 since the explosion happened that morning. However, he
noted that it was possible that Jones mailed the check after 5 p.m. on Sept. 17
and the letter did not go through the Pittsburgh processing center on the North
Side until the next afternoon.

A neighbor has reported previously that Jones had left his house in his car for
a brief time on the evening of Sept. 17 and returned about 7:30 p.m., when he
was last seen. Jones' car, a 1991 Buick Park Avenue, was later found in the
rubble of the home.

Blohm said Jones' disappearance has been "like going into a tunnel with no light
at the end of it. I daydream and all I see is a big question mark."



Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Copyright (c) 1991 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: GAS CAUSED CAR DEALER'S HOUSE BLAST
Date: October 1, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: B4

Propane was the cause of an explosion that destroyed the home of car dealer Art
Jones in Fallowfield, Washington County, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms has determined.

Fallowfield Police Chief Sam Woncheck said ATF agents also agree with him and
township fire officials that Jones, 55, was not at home when the explosion
occurred at 2:34 a.m. Sept. 18.But ATF has not yet determined what ignited the
propane, triggering the explosion which leveled Jones' home. The explosion also
damaged some neighboring homes and was felt up to a mile away.

Petrolane Gas Service in the Clinton area of Findlay Township, which provided
the propane tank that serviced the home, is conducting its own investigation
into the cause of the blast, Woncheck said.

Jones continues to be listed as a missing person. Family members and friends
searched the rubble of the home last week for evidence of Jones' remains. The
family has hired former Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht to help determine
if Jones was in the house.



Section: LOCAL
Page: B4

Copyright (c) 1991 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: MYSTERY DRIVES SEARCH FOR MISSING CAR DEALER
Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: September 29, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Art Jones relished smoking Bances cigars, discussing world events with friends
and driving in the countryside around and beyond this Washington County
community.

Jones, 55, owner of the Art Jones Bendik-Lancaster Buick dealership in
neighboring Charleroi, also relished life. Hospitals and funeral homes made him
uncomfortable, friends say, probably because they involved the mysteries of life
and death.Now Jones himself has become a life-or-death mystery. At 2:34 a.m.
Sept. 18, an explosion and fire demolished Jones' home on Park Road in the
Rodgers Manor housing plan. Volunteer firefighters, aided by a backhoe, searched
the rubble for nearly 19 hours but found no trace of Jones.

A neighbor was the last person to see Jones as he returned home in his car about
7:30 p.m. on Sept. 17. His light blue, 1991 Buick Park Avenue was found beneath
the rubble. Authorities have listed Jones as a missing person.

"This is probably one of the biggest mysteries to hit the Pittsburgh area since
that B-25 bomber went down in the Monongahela River (on Jan. 31, 1956)," said
Fallowfield Police Chief Samuel Woncheck. The plane was never found.

Washington County Crimestoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information
leading to the whereabouts of Jones, who is described as a 6-foot-1, 165-pound
white male with blue eyes and receding blond hair.

"I'm sure everybody's speculating," Woncheck said of Jones' whereabouts.
''Everybody's wondering, 'Where's Art Jones?' God, I wish I knew."

The Jones case has consumed what seems like every waking moment for Woncheck,
who heads a force of three full-time and six part-time officers in this township
of about 5,500 people. Jones' disappearance has been even more difficult for his
family and friends at the dealership.

Jones' four grown children -- Lisa Blohm, Frank, David and James -- searched
through the rubble Wednesday along with other family members and friends. The
family has hired Cyril Wecht, former Allegheny County coroner and a forensics
expert, to coordinate the search and analyze several recovered items to
determine if any of them might be human remains. The results are expected early
this week.

Three of Jones' children believe their father was in the home at the time of the
explosion. David thought so, too, at first, but now he is uncertain. The
children criticized the manner in which the backhoe was used to move debris,
charging that Jones' remains and evidence that could have established how the
blast occurred have been blended together and placed in large piles.

David Jones, 25, the family member whom siblings agree was closest to their
divorced father, said he last saw his father three days before the explosion, on
a Sunday. He talked to him again by phone Monday.

"It would be totally out of character for him to just run away," David said.
"First, he didn't take a car. He wouldn't be anywhere without a car. Second, he
didn't let anybody know."

Woncheck said all vehicles and dealer plates at the dealership have been
accounted for. There is no indication of homicide and no evidence that Jones was
having financial difficulties, he said.

A Pittsburgh Press review of court records in Washington and Allegheny counties
found no outstanding judgments, suits or other legal action involving Jones.

David Jones said authorities are monitoring his father's credit cards and an
automatic banking card but have not seen any activity.

Woncheck also is working with the family in attempts to get access to Jones'
bank records and life insurance policies. They have not been able to get access
to these records because of confidentially laws and the fact that Jones has not
been declared dead.

Jones moved into his Fallowfield home in May 1990. His divorce from the
children's mother, Joan, had been finalized in an amicable agreement in 1984.
Neighbors in Fallowfield said he kept to himself and they had no real contact
with him other than friendly "hellos" as he passed by in his car.

Jones' youngest son, James, a sophomore at California University of
Pennsylvania, has lived with his father off and on over the past few years.
James most recently stayed at the Fallowfield home from late August until his
21st birthday on Sept. 8. That's when James left because he said he felt his
father was trying to set too many rules about when he could come and go.

"We had your basic father-son relationship," James Jones said. "My father set
down rules, and I didn't pay attention to them."

James Jones said his father was "a creature of habit who did everything at about
the same time every day."

John Markulike, general manager at Jones' car dealership and a friend for more
than 11 years, and Linda Bricker, who has worked for Jones for 16 years, agreed.

Jones arrived at the dealership between 9 and 9:30 daily and left between 5 and
5:30 p.m. He almost always went home for a microwaved lunch and to pick up his
personal mail, they said.

On a slow day, Jones would sometimes get in his car and take a leisurely drive
to locations like Somerset and Cumberland, Md. But Jones "would always tell
someone where he was going," Markulike said.

Wherever he went, family members said, Jones was certain to have a plentiful
supply of Bances cigars, which he bought in large quantities from the Bloom
Cigar Co. on Pittsburgh's South Side. "About the only time my father didn't have
a cigar in his mouth was when he was eating," James Jones said.

Markulike said "everything was normal" on Sept. 17, the last day Jones was at
the dealership. Service manager Fred Marashoff was sick that day, and Jones
filled in for him. "Art said, 'I did a good job today back in service. I made us
some money.' "

Markulike and Ronald Sands, a friend who has known Jones since the early 1950s,
were sitting around the dealership last week concerned about Jones' whereabouts.

"My theory changes every day," Markulike said. "If Art is still out there
running around somewhere, he will eventually have to get in touch with someone
in his circle of friends."

Markulike said Jones was the type to enjoy the little things in life like a
friendly chat about world affairs or how the Pittsburgh sports teams were
faring.

If Jones didn't have a fear of death, he at least avoided its symbols. Markulike
said Jones usually declined to set foot inside a funeral home even when a close
friend had died. Ms. Bricker said she was honored when Jones came inside a
funeral home to talk briefly with her when one of her relatives died

because he normally would not do that.

Jones has been involved with Buick dealerships since 1974 when he became an
owner of a McKeesport dealership. He later owned dealerships on Brownsville Road
in Carrick and on Route 51 in Pleasant Hills. He sold the Pleasant Hills
dealership and bought the one in Charleroi last year.

Cyril Wecht, who previously has aided in the investigations of disasters such as
the MGM Grand Hotel fire in Las Vegas, said the Jones case involves ''very
unique" circumstances.

"There's nothing in Mr. Jones' background and nothing I'm told from a

financial standpoint that would seem to fit in with a scenario that this
explosion and Mr. Jones' disappearance were orchestrated as some kind of great
ruse," said Wecht.

"If he is somewhere else, what did he get out of it? Obviously he didn't
benefit. His house is destroyed, his car is destroyed, he's walked away from his
dealership, and he can't collect any life insurance."



Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Copyright (c) 1991 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Title: THE HOUSE EXPLODED, BUT WAS THE OWNER IN OR OUT?
Author: Associated Press
Date: September 27, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: B07

The family of a Washington County auto dealer listed as missing after his house
blew up in the middle of the night has hired a forensics expert to coordinate a
search for the man.

The children of Art Jones hired Cyril Wecht, former Allegheny County coroner,
to coordinate a search through the rubble of Jones' house."We're trying to find
out what happened to him any way we can," said Lisa Jones Blohm, the missing
man's daughter.

Authorities declared Jones missing last week after spending 19 hours sifting
through what was left of his house and finding no trace of the 55- year-old man.
The residence was destroyed Sept. 18 in an early-morning blast and fire.

Jones was last seen the previous evening by a neighbor who saw him return home
in his car. The Jones children at first were uncertain whether their father was
in the house but now say he probably was. He lived alone.

"They believe that he was in the house because they have no reason to believe
that he wasn't," Wecht said.

During a search Wednesday, family and friends picked through piles of rubble,
trying to find bone fragments, jewelry, clothing or other items that might
indicate whether Jones was at home when the blast occurred. Wecht said the
search yielded some personal effects, including clothing and jewelry, that will
be examined by X-rays or microscopic analysis.

"There are some things that bear further study," he said, declining to
elaborate.

The initial search turned up nothing to suggest Jones was in the house and led
authorities to list the man as missing. A $1,000 reward has been offered by a
Washington County crime-fighting unit for information leading to Jones'
whereabouts.

Blohm and her brother, Jim Jones, criticized Fallowfield police and firefighters
for their handling of the initial search. They said the use of a backhoe to
clear the rubble disturbed evidence that might have helped establish the cause
of the explosion.

The house was heated by propane, and authorities in Washington County, which is
in the southwest corner of the state, suspect a propane leak may have caused the
explosion.



Author: Associated Press
Section: LOCAL
Page: B07

Copyright (c) 1991 The Philadelphia Inquirer

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: JONES' FAMILY HIRES WECHT TO SEEK REMAINS AT BLAST SITE
Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: September 26, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Family members and friends, convinced that Art Jones was in his home when it
exploded and burned last week, sorted through bricks and other rubble in search
of the remains of the Washington County car dealer.

Jones' family hired former Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht to coordinate
yesterday's search, the latest development since Jones disappeared a week
ago.Jones' split-entry home in the Rodgers Manor housing plan in Fallowfield,
Washington County, was destroyed by an explosion at 2:34 a.m. Sept. 18.

Searchers last week failed to find any trace of Jones after sifting through the
rubble for nearly 19 hours. Authorities then listed Jones as missing.

But three of Jones' four adult children -- daughter Lisa Jones Blohm and sons
Frank and Jim -- believe Jones was in the house at the time of the explosion.

Jones, 55, was last seen by a neighbor returning home in his car about 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 17. The car -- a light blue, 1991 Buick Park Avenue -- was found in the
garage with his briefcase containing several credit cards inside.

"They believe that he was in the house because they have no reason to believe
that he wasn't," said Wecht, dressed in a plaid shirt, blue jeans and rubber
boots yesterday at the explosion site.

A fourth Jones offspring, David Jones, 25, of Jefferson, said he initially
thought his father was in the home. Now, he said, he is no longer sure because
the search by authorities did not turn up anything.

Nevertheless, David supported the family's decision to hire Wecht, a forensics
expert, "just to clear it up."

With permission from local and state police, family and friends searched piles
of rubble at the home from 9:30 a.m. until after 5 p.m. yesterday looking for
small bone fragments, jewelry, clothing or other effects that would indicate
Jones was in the home when the blast occurred.

"We're trying to find out what happened to him any way we can," Lisa said.

Wecht said yesterday's search turned up some personal effects -- clothing and
inexpensive jewelry among them -- that will be put through X-ray or microscopic
analysis.

"There are some things that bear further study," Wecht said, declining to
elaborate.

During a break yesterday, Lisa, her husband, Mark Blohm, and Jim Jones
criticized authorities for their handling of the explosion scene in the hours
immediately after the explosion. A backhoe brought to the scene to help clear
large rubble did so in haphazard fashion with little thought given to preserving
the scene so investigators might find small remains or establish the cause of
the blast, they said.

Trooper Walt Anderson, the state police fire marshal who arrived hours after the
backhoe had been digging, said the cause of the explosion may never be known.

Wecht said rubble from the explosion was blended together in piles by the
backhoe so as to make further investigation difficult at best. "You can't
investigate something very well when it's moved around and piled up."

Fallowfield Police Chief Sam Woncheck said he and Fire Chief David Calcek were
concerned for the welfare of Jones and called in a backhoe at daybreak to
immediately search the rubble in the event he had survived.

"It's a very difficult situation," said Woncheck, who is also first assistant
chief of the fire department. "You have to be more concerned with someone's life
than preserving the scene."

David Jones, who was the first family member to arrive at the site on the day of
the explosion, said he believed authorities acted properly and with good intent.

But Mark Blohm, Jones' son-in-law, disagreed. "Anyone who saw that house after
the explosion could see there was no sign of life anywhere."

Woncheck called in the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to
investigate the home site Monday before agreeing to allow Jones' family to
conduct its own investigation. A report on any findings by ATF is expected to be
available as soon as tomorrow.

Woncheck also announced yesterday that Washington County Crime Stoppers has
offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to Jones' whereabouts.



Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Copyright (c) 1991 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: BLAST CAUSE A MYSTERY
Date: September 24, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: B4

Investigators say they may never determine the cause of a blast that destroyed a
home in Fallowfield, Washington County.

The blast early Wednesday leveled the home of Art Jones, 55, in the 100 block
of Park Road. No trace of Jones, owner of a car dealership in neighboring
Charleroi, was found in the rubble.Police have listed him as a missing person.

"The cause at this point is undetermined, and that's the way it could remain,"
said Trooper Walt Anderson, the fire marshal in charge of the investigation.

Among the possible causes investigators have considered are the propane gas used
to heat the home and a water heater family members said had caused Jones
problems.

Trooper John Robson said the explosion left "little or nothing worth sending" to
the state police laboratory for analysis.



Section: LOCAL
Page: B4

Copyright (c) 1991 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: FALLOWFIELD BLAST MAY GO UNRESOLVED
Date: September 23, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: B3

State fire investigators today said they may never determine the cause of a
blast early Wednesday that destroyed a home in Fallowfield, Washington County.

The blast leveled the home of Art Jones, 55, in the 100 block of Park Road in
the Rodgers Manor housing plan. No trace of Jones, who owns a car dealership in
neighboring Charleroi, was found in the rubble and police continue to list him
as a missing person."The cause at this point is undetermined, and that's the way
it could remain," said Trooper Walt Anderson, the fire marshal in charge of the
investigation.

Among the possible causes investigators have considered are the propane gas used
to heat the home and a water heater family members said had caused Jones
problems.

Trooper John Robson said the explosion left "little or nothing worth sending" to
the state police laboratory for analysis.



Section: LOCAL
Page: B3

Copyright (c) 1991 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: NO HEADWAY MADE IN ART JONES CASE
Date: September 20, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: B4

Fire officials investigating an explosion that destroyed a Fallowfield,
Washington County, home say they've made little headway in determining the cause
of the blast or the whereabouts of the owner.

Authorities are awaiting test results on debris from the home of Art Jones, 55,
owner of the Art Jones-Bendik-Lancaster Buick dealership in Charleroi,
Washington County.Jones was thought to be inside the house, which was blown to
pieces in an explosion and fire at 2:34 a.m. Wednesday.

Jones is considered a missing person.

Fallowfield Police Chief Sam Woncheck said his only lead was a "remote
possibility." He said the sheriff's department in Medina County, Ohio, called
yesterday about an unidentified man who had been found in a burning, stolen car,
dead of a bullet wound to the head.

The body was found shortly before midnight Tuesday in a 1991 Lincoln Town Car
with Pennsylvania license plates.



Section: LOCAL
Page: B4

Copyright (c) 1991 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH)
Title: TESTS PROBE LINK TO MISSING CAR DEALER MATCH WITH BODY IN CAR NOT
EXPECTED MEDINA COUNTY
Author: ALAN ACHKAR PLAIN DEALER REPORTER
Date: September 20, 1991
Section: METRO
Page: 1B

Investigators from Medina County and a Pennsylvania township will check dental
records today to determine if a man found dead in a burning car in Liverpool
Township Tuesday night is a missing Pennsylvania car dealer.

Arthur James Jones Jr., of Fallowfield Township in Pennsylvania, was last
seen by a neighbor at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. About seven hours later, at 2:30 a.m.
Wednesday, an explosion leveled his house and damaged several nearby
homes.Investigators are studying whether Jones is the victim who died from
injuries to the head, most likely a gunshot wound, inflicted before the fire.

Fallowfield is 28 miles south of Pittsburgh.

"If you got a body up there in Ohio that's unidentified and I have a missing
person here, we're definitely going to see if there's a link," Fallowfield
Police Chief Sam Woncheck said last night.

But Medina County Coroner Neil Grabenstetter said yesterday that it "doesn't
seem too likely" that a match will be made because of an age discrepancy.

Jones is 56. After a preliminary autopsy, the man found in the burning car
was estimated to be in his 30s.

"I would be surprised if there's a match," Grabenstetter said. "But, of
course, we're following up all our leads."

The car found burning in Liverpool was a 1991 maroon Lincoln Town Car with
Pennsylvania license plates. It had been stolen from a car rental agency near
Dayton, authorities said.

A forensic dentist in the Cuyahoga County coroner's office will study Jones'
dental records today. Woncheck said he expected the results today or Monday.

The Pennsylvania fire marshal's office is investigating the explosion of
Jones' home. No cause has been determined.

Firefighters and investigators searched through the debris of the house for
almost 19 hours but found no trace of Jones' body, Woncheck said. Jones'
briefcase and credit cards were found in his car, which was parked inside the
garage, Woncheck said.

Jones, who lives alone, is the owner of Art Jones-Bendik-Lancaster Buick Co.
in Charleroi Township, near Fallowfield.

"With the information and the evidence that's been gathered, we can't even
speculate what happened to Mr. Jones," Woncheck said. "Mr. Jones has been in my
township for a little better than a year. I never met him. I don't think many
people know him well."

The body found in Liverpool, situated in the passenger seat of the car, was
extensively burned.

The car was set on fire in an industrial park at Wegman and Steel Drs. It
was in woods on the side of the road.

Author: ALAN ACHKAR PLAIN DEALER REPORTER
Section: METRO
Page: 1B

Copyright 1991, 2002 The Plain Dealer. All Rights Reserved. Used by NewsBank
with Permission.

****************************************************

Paper: Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH)
Title: OFFICIALS ARE SEEKING DEAD MAN'S IDENTITY MEDINA COUNTY
Author: ALAN ACHKAR PLAIN DEALER REPORTER
Date: September 20, 1991
Section: METRO
Page: 1B

Investigators from Medina County and a Pennsylvania township will check dental
records today to determine if a man found dead in a burning car in Liverpool
Township Tuesday night is a missing Pennsylvania car dealer.

Arthur James Jones Jr., of Fallowfield Township in Pennsylvania, was last
seen by a neighbor at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. About seven hours later, at 2:30 a.m.
Wednesday, an explosion leveled his house and damaged several nearby
homes.Investigators are studying whether Jones is the victim who died from
injuries to the head, most likely a gunshot wound, inflicted before the fire.

Fallowfield is 28 miles south of Pittsburgh.

"If you got a body up there in Ohio that's unidentified and I have a missing
person here, we're definitely going to see if there's a link," Fallowfield
Police Chief Sam Woncheck said last night.

But Medina County Coroner Neil Grabenstetter said yesterday that it "doesn't
seem too likely" that a match will be made because of an age discrepancy.

Jones is 56. After a preliminary autopsy, the man found in the burning car
was estimated to be in his 30s.

"I would be surprised if there's a match," Grabenstetter said. "But, of
course, we're following up all our leads."

The car found burning in Liverpool was a 1991 maroon Lincoln Town Car with
Pennsylvania license plates. It had been stolen from a car rental agency near
Dayton, authorities said.

A forensic dentist in the Cuyahoga County coroner's office will study Jones'
dental records today. Woncheck said he expected the results today or Monday.

The Pennsylvania fire marshal's office is investigating the explosion of
Jones' home. No cause has been determined.

Firefighters and investigators searched through the debris of the house for
almost 19 hours but found no trace of Jones' body, Woncheck said. Jones'
briefcase and credit cards were found in his car, which was parked inside the
garage, Woncheck said.

Jones, who lives alone, is the owner of Art Jones-Bendik-Lancaster Buick Co.
in Charleroi Township, near Fallowfield.

"With the information and the evidence that's been gathered, we can't even
speculate what happened to Mr. Jones," Woncheck said. "Mr. Jones has been in my
township for a little better than a year. I never met him. I don't think many
people know him well."

The body found in Liverpool, situated in the passenger seat of the car, was
extensively burned.

The car was set on fire in an industrial park at Wegman and Steel Drs. It
was in woods on the side of the road.

Author: ALAN ACHKAR PLAIN DEALER REPORTER
Section: METRO
Page: 1B

Copyright 1991, 2002 The Plain Dealer. All Rights Reserved. Used by NewsBank
with Permission.

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: NO TRACE OF MISSING OWNER FOUND IN FALLOWFIELD HOME AFTER BLAST
Author: MATTHEW P. SMITH AND JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: September 19, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Where is Art Jones?

Jones, 55, was thought to have been in his home on Park Road in Fallowfield,
Washington County when it was destroyed by an explosion at 2:34 a.m.
yesterday.The blast -- the cause of which is still undetermined -- was heard
more than a mile away, showered debris more than 100 feet away, left the ruins
in flames, and damaged neighboring homes.

But authorities now list Jones, the owner of Art Jones-Bendik-Lancaster Buick
dealership in Charleroi, as a missing person after a nearly 20-hour search found
no trace of him in the rubble of his home.

"Mr. Jones was not in the house at the time of the explosion," Fallowfield
Police Chief Sam Woncheck said flatly today. "Mr. Jones is not there."

Woncheck said he was treating Jones as a missing person and would enter Jones'
name with the FBI's National Crime Information Center today.

Police interviewed Jones' three grown children -- sons David and Jim and
daughter Lisa Blohm -- but the family has no idea where Jones may have gone, he
said.

"The family is concerned about his welfare and his whereabouts," Woncheck said.

Woncheck declined comment on suggestions made in a television interview by a
neighborhood youth, Rob Bojarski, that the dealership may have been in trouble.

Bojarski, 17, who lives next door to the Jones home and had cut Jones grass,
said in the televised interview that Jones asked him to cut back on the regular
cuttings because things were not going well financially at the dealership.

"There's plenty of speculation, but we don't deal in speculation. We deal in
facts," Woncheck said. "He could be sitting on a beach down in Florida sunning
himself for all I know."

Woncheck said police "have no indication of any foul play whatsoever."

Mark Blohm, Jones' son-in-law, said speculation about the dealership's

financial situation is "extremely callous. He is in no different financial
condition than any other dealership. It's certainly nothing to base an opinion
on."

Blohm said his father-in-law likely reduced the number of grass cuttings this
summer because of the hot, drought-like weather.

"I think the most important thing right now is not whether we're in trouble or
not -- it's what happened to Mr. Jones," said John Markulike, general manager at
the dealership. He declined further comment.

Jones is 6 feet 1 and 165 pounds. He is white, with blond, receding hair and
blue eyes. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact
authorities.

Jones' neighbors and one of his three children, David Jones of Jefferson, said
they had thought Jones was home alone at the time of the explosion.

Blohm said David Jones last talked to his father Monday. The elder Jones was
last seen about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday by neighbor Clara Costanza, who saw Jones
drive by in his blue Buick en route to his home.

Jones' car was found in the garage in the rubble of his home along with a Jeep
owned by another son, James, a student at California University of Pennsylvania.

Neighbors said most homes in the area are heated with electricity, but Jones'
was heated by propane gas.

State police said they were unable to determine the cause of the blast due to
the extent of damage to the home, but said the propane had not been ruled out.

Washington County Coroner Farrell Jackson said he'd never seen such extensive
damage from an explosion. "It seemed like a bomb dropped on it," he said.

Despite the devastation, Jackson said, it is likely searchers would have found
some trace if a person had been in the home.

Jones owned Art Jones Buick at Route 51 and Old Clairton Road in Pleasant

Hills from 1980 until the summer of 1989, said John Thatcher, whose family owns
the property.

After Jones left, the dealership continued to operate under his name until
another dealer bought the assets and changed the business to Crown Motors in
1990, Thatcher said.

Jones took over ownership of the Bendik-Lancaster dealership several months
after leaving Pleasant Hills. He moved into the home in the Rodgers Manor
housing plan in May 1990, neighbors said.



Author: MATTHEW P. SMITH AND JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: A1

Copyright (c) 1991 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: NO TRACE OF MISSING OWNER FOUND IN FALLOWFIELD HOME AFTER BLAST
Author: MATTHEW P. SMITH, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: September 19, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: C1

The search for Art Jones has taken an unexpected twist.

Police in Fallowfield, Washington County, listed the car dealer as a missing
person instead of an explosion victim after searchers found no trace of him in
the wreckage of his home.Jones, 52, was thought to have been in the home on Park
Road when it was destroyed about 2:30 a.m. yesterday. The explosion showered
debris more than 100 feet away and left the ruins in flames.

Jones owns Art Jones-Bendik Lancaster Buick in Charleroi.

Fallowfield volunteer firefighters put out the fire in about 20 minutes and
searched the wreckage. The search continued until about 7 p.m. yesterday, said
Fallowfield Fire Chief David Calcek.

"Due to the thorough search that we've done, it doesn't seem like anyone was in
there," Calcek said.

Jones' neighbors and one of his three children, David Jones of Jefferson, said
they had thought Jones was home alone at the time of the explosion.

Jones' car was found under rubble of the garage of the split-level home.

Calcek said searchers picked through wreckage with the aid of a backhoe and
combed a 100-foot radius of the property, including a woods.

Neighbors said most homes in the area are heated with electricity, but Jones'
was heated by propane gas.

State police said they were unable to determine the cause of the blast due to
the extent of damage to the home, but said the propane had not been ruled out.

Washington County Coroner Farrell Jackson said he'd never seen such extensive
damage from an explosion. "It seemed like a bomb dropped on it," he said.

Despite the devastation, Jackson said, it is unlikely searchers would not find
any trace if someone had been in the home.

Judith K. George, who lives two doors away, said she first thought lightning had
struck nearby when her house was rocked by the explosion.

"But then I could see something red in the sky and saw the house was on fire,"
she said.

The force of the blast knocked pictures off her walls, cracked the foundation of
a neighbor's house and pushed open the steel doors of another neighbor's house,
she said.



Author: MATTHEW P. SMITH, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: C1

Copyright (c) 1991 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

****************************************************

Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: CAR DEALER'S HOUSE EXPLODES
Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: September 18, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: B1

Firefighters and a bloodhound were searching for bodies after an explosion
leveled a home early today on Park Road in Fallowfield, Washington County.

The blast occurred about 2:40 a.m. in the 100 block of Park Road and produced a
raging fire that took Fallowfield volunteer firefighters about 20 minutes to
bring under control.Authorities are not certain whether the owner, Art Jones --
identified by neighbors as the owner of a Buick dealership in nearby Charleroi
-- or his son were home at the time. A neighbor, Judith George, who lives two
doors away at 107 Park Road, said two vehicles were in the garage of the
split-entry brick and frame home.

"We don't know where he's at," Mrs. George said of Jones. "Nobody has seen him."

A backhoe and a bloodhound were brought in to sift through the rubble.

Mrs. George said the "enormous explosion" was felt throughout the housing plan.
"Everybody from even a half-mile away had to hear it."

Mrs. George said there is no natural gas service to the plan. However, Jones
used propane gas tanks to heat his home and to cook, she said.

Mrs. George said the force of the explosion blew the front door across the
street and sent other parts flying like projectiles. Wooded areas are on either
side of the Jones home, she said.

Mrs. George said the home of Robert Bojarksi, next door to the Jones house, was
damaged in the blast.



Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: B1

Copyright (c) 1991 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Paper: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Title: CAR DEALER'S HOUSE EXPLODES
Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Date: September 18, 1991
Section: LOCAL
Page: B1

Firefighters and rescue personnel were searching for a Washington County car
dealer whose home was leveled early today by an explosion that also damaged
neighboring homes.

The blast occurred at 2:34 a.m. at the home of Art Jones in the 100 block of
Park Road, Fallowfield. The state police fire marshal and Fallowfield volunteer
firefighters are investigating the cause of the blast.Neighbors said the
explosion -- and a much smaller explosion minutes after the first -- produced a
raging fire that shot 50 to 60 feet in the air. Fallowfield firefighters battled
the flames for about 20 minutes to bring it under control.

Jones, 52, is the owner of Art Jones Bendik-Lancaster Buick in neighboring
Charleroi, Washington County.

Neighbors and one of Jones' three adult children, David Jones, 25, of Jefferson,
said today that they believe Jones was alone in the home at the time of the
blast.

Chuck Costanza, who lives across the street from Jones, said his wife, Clara,
saw Jones about 7:30 p.m. yesterday in his car near the home with his trademark
cigar in his mouth.

"We have no reason to believe that he was anywhere else but in the house," David
Jones said of his father.

Jones's car was found beneath collapsed rubble in the garage of the split- entry
brick home. A Jeep owned by his other son, Jim, 21, was also in the garage.

However, David Jones said brother Jim spent the night at the home of their
sister, Lisa, 30, in Charleroi.

David Jones said his brother was in the process of moving out of the home and is
attending college at California University of Pennsylvania in Washington County.
Jim Jones is an applied computer science major at the university.

Neighbors said the explosion rocked the Rodgers Manor housing plan of about 65
homes, sending debris from the Jones home across the street and onto neighboring
lawns and roofs.

Sections of siding and curtains from the Jones home were blown into trees in
woods which are located behind and to one side of the destroyed residence.

"Everybody from even a half-mile away had to hear it," said neighbor

Judith George.

"It knocked me out of bed," said Costanza. "I was in the Army in Europe during
World War II. The last time I heard something like that was when a bomb

went off."

After the blast, neighbors saw a ball of fire coming from the Jones home and
called firefighters.

Costanza said half of the front door from the Jones home along with windows and
glass were thrown into the yard by the blast.

The force of the blast cracked the foundation of his home and knocked fixtures
from the wall, Costanza said.

Elly and Robert Bojarski, whose home is next door to the Jones house, said the
ceiling and wall separated in the bedroom of their eldest son, Robbie, 17, which
was closest to the blast.

The couple's other son, Brian, 10, "was scared to death. We all were. I've never
heard anything like that in my life," said Elly Bojarski.

Neighbors said there is no natural gas service to the plan. Although most
homeowners have electric heat, Jones was among a handful of homeowners who used
propane gas tanks to heat his home and to cook, they said.

Jones said his father had had some problems recently with a hot water heater,
which is also fueled by propane.

The propane tank was still standing behind the rubble of the home following the
blast.



Author: JIM WILHELM, THE PITTSBURGH PRESS
Section: LOCAL
Page: B1

Copyright (c) 1991 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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