Judge: Ordway will stay behind bars

ALLEGAN, Mich. (WOOD) - A man in jail who federal prosecutors say is connected to the death of a roommate and the disappearance of another roommate will stay in jail, a judge said.

In May, Harold Ordway's attorney asked a judge to release his client out on bond.

Documents show that prosecutors filed a response on June 6 asking that the request be denied. Prosecutors said Ordway is a danger and needs to stay in custody, according to the documents.

On June 14, the judge ruled that Ordway must remain in custody. The judge said the prosecution made a compelling case as to why Ordway should stay behind bars.

Ordway was arrested on Sept. 2, 2011 following a crash on M-89 near Plainwell. Police found a gun, ammunition and a bloody mattress in his pickup truck.

An investigation led to authorities learning that Ordway's roommate, 53-year-old Paul Atchley, was missing. Atchley was staying with Ordway at Ordway's parents' house on Manning Lake Road in Barry County. They say Atchley had been sleeping there in the back of Ordway's pickup truck.

Then investigators discovered that 33-year-old Michael VanBuskirk had also disappeared. He was reported missing on Aug. 28 to the Battle Creek Police Department. VanBuskirk was living at Ordway's home on Woodward Avenue in Battle Creek to help with a remodeling project, police said.

On Oct. 10 the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office found human remains near 34th Street and Y Avenue. Though final autopsy results are pending, the remains were positively identified as VanBuskirk.

Ordway was indicted in federal court in October 2011 on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

He has not officially been named a suspect in VanBuskirk's death, nor charged in Atchley's disappearance.

Atchley still has not been found. His DNA was found on the bloody mattress in Ordway's vehicle, said police.

Investigators have matched his D-N-A to blood found on a mattress in Ordway's truck.