Jody King's Passenger to Return to Court

Jody King disappeared in April and was found dead in June

A New Haven man who was in a truck with Jody King before the New York man was found dead has been charged and will be back in court on Aug. 19.

King, a 28-year-old father of three from Ticonderoga, New York, disappeared on April 20, after his truck crashed on Interstate 91 in Enfield.

His body was found in June near a culvert on the property of MassMutual in Enfield.

Police filed a reckless endangerment charge against Joseph Crudup, 35, of New Haven, who was a passenger in the truck King was driving.

Crudup told police that he went for help after the accident. When he returned to the truck, King was gone. He was in court Tuesday and ruled eligible for a public defender.

For months, there was no sign of King. Police and King’s wife launched a search for any clues to what happened. 

The body was later found in "a maze of drainpipe.”

The medical examiner conducted an autopsy in June but it was inconclusive.
 
The night King disappeared, he had been at Sports Haven bar in New Haven and left around 7:30 p.m.

At 8:57 p.m. 911 calls reported his truck was in a crash, according to information on a missing persons poster.
 
When police responded to that crash, they were unable to find the driver.
 
Two days later, K-9 teams searched the area and found personal effects that did belong to King, police said. Those, clothing and wallet, were found in a wooded area 100 yards from the highway. His cell phone was in the truck and his bank accounts had not been touched.
 
There had be no sign of King since, until his body was found. Police are still investigating the accident.
 

Copyright The Associated Press
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