DNA links mattress blood to missing man

HASTINGS, Mich. (WOOD) - DNA testing linked a bloody mattress found in the back of a pickup truck to a missing man.

Testing found that blood samples taken from the bloody mattress found in 41-year-old Harold Ordway's truck on Sept. 2, a rifle found in the truck and Ordway's clothes match DNA from 53-year-old Paul Atchley, who has been missing since at least September 2011. 

The samples were compared to DNA samples taken from a hat belonging to Atchley. The results indicated that all the blood samples were a match to the DNA taken from the hat.

The Barry County Sheriff's Department received the results of testing performed by the Michigan State Police Crime Lab.

Ordway was involved in a traffic crash on Sept. 2 in Allegan County. Police who responded to the accident found blood on a mattress in the back of the pick-up truck he was driving.

Ordway was arrested at the scene for possessing a weapon as a felon, but would not tell investigators where the blood on the mattress came from. He has remained quiet.

In the following days, investigators discovered that Atchley, who had been staying with Ordway at Ordway's parents house off Manning Lake Rd. in Barry County, had disappeared. They say he had been sleeping there in the back of the pick-up truck.

Soon after, another man connected to Ordway, Michael VanBuskirk, was found to be missing. VanBuskirk's remains were discovered in a Kalamazoo County field in October and identified in mid-January.

On Jan. 18, the court issued an order that Ordway must undergo a psychological evaluation.

The order stated Ordway's evaluation must "...evaluate whether Defendant is competent to stand trial, whether Defendant was legally insane at the time of the offense, and whether Defendant's mental condition might be improved through mental health treatment. including prescription medication."

On Thursday, a second order was issued, stating Ordway must be transported by the U.S. Marshals to the designated place of psychological/psychiatric evaluation within 10 days. The facility where the evaluation will take place was not named.

The evaluation is expected to take 30 to 45 days to complete.

Ordway remains in federal custody on weapons charges.

It is not yet known if he will be charged in connection to the disappearance or death either of the two men -- or what those charges would be.

Authorities from several counties and federal law enforcement continue to investigate.