Ordway found competent to stand trial

ALLEGAN, Mich. (WOOD) - A man who police believe is connected to the disappearances of two West Michigan men was found competent Friday afternoon to stand trial on a federal firearms charge.

Harold James Ordway underwent a psychiatric evaluation and a hearing was set to determine if he will remain in jail awaiting trial. That hearing was held on April 30, and the judge denied bond.

Orday, 41, was indicted in federal court in October 2011 on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

He was arrested back on Sept. 2 after police pulled him over during a routine traffic stop and found that he had a bloody mattress in the back of his truck .

The deputy noticed "evidence of some form of traumatic event or injury not related to the traffic crash," authorities said in a release. Ordway did not provide a good explanation for the bloody mattress when asked.

He was arrested on weapons charges.

Investigators soon discovered that two men with connections to Ordway, 53-year-old Paul Atchley and 32-year-old Michael VanBuskirk, were missing.

Atchley, police said, had been staying with Ordway at Ordway's parents house off Manning Lake Rd. in Barry County. They say he had been sleeping there in the back of the pick-up truck.

VanBuskirk, the father of three boys, was living at Ordway's home on Woodward Avenue in Battle Creek to help with a remodeling project, said police.