$1,700 seized by slain deputy gone from sheriff's department

KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) - A sheriff says his department is missing $1,700 seized by one of his deputies before the officer was fatally wounded in a shootout.

Howard County Sheriff Steven Rogers said Tuesday that Deputy Carl Koontz seized the money during a traffic stop March 19 hours before he was fatally wounded. He says Koontz placed the money in a marked evidence bag in his car. Days later, the sheriff's department realized the money was missing.

Rogers says Koontz's patrol car was left unattended briefly after he was shot before being taken to the Howard County Sheriff's Department, where it went on display outside.

Koontz was fatally wounded inside a Russiaville mobile home while trying to arrest a 25-year-old man later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.