Longtime Indiana fugitive found dead

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A fugitive from Indiana died from a gunshot wound to the head following a confrontation with authorities in a sparsely populated area of Oregon, police said Thursday.

Police declined to identify the man until his relatives have been notified and an autopsy is completed. Wendy Osborne, an FBI spokeswoman in Indiana, said a fingerprint comparison was in the works to determine if he is Phillip Ferguson, a stockbroker and financial consultant who has been missing for more than a decade after allegedly bilking investors out of $30 million.

Lt. Gregg Hastings, an Oregon State Police spokesman, said the fugitive died Wednesday near Burns in the southeastern corner of the state.

According to Hastings, an FBI special agent and two local officers were tipped about a fugitive and drove to the man's remote home in Harney County. As the three drove up a dirt road, they spotted the man's pickup driving along a parallel dirt road separated by a fence.

The vehicles stopped on opposite sides of the fence, and the man briefly spoke with the authorities before fleeing. Harney County Sheriff David Glerup and Sgt. Brian Needham fired at the pickup. The man's body was found in the pickup about a quarter-mile away. A rifle was next to him.

Hastings said initial evidence shows it's unlikely the officers' rounds hit him.

Ferguson, 62, vanished in 2000 while his Indiana investment business was under a federal investigation. Grant County prosecutors later charged him with 90 counts of security violations.

"He basically sold investments that didn't exist," said Brad Skolnik, who was the Indiana securities commissioner back in 2000. "He printed up bogus account statements and other documents that allowed him to cover up the scheme."

Skolnik said Thursday that most of the alleged victims were elderly people who thought they were investing in safe, conservative investments.

Ferguson's case has been featured on "America's Most Wanted." According to its website, Ferguson has several aliases, one of which is Roy Vernon Cox.

People who lived near the man who died Wednesday said they knew their neighbor as Vernon Cox.

Bec Stoddart, 86, said she moved into her home four years ago, and Cox had been her neighbor the whole time. She said Cox told her that his wife had died and he moved to the Burns area because he wanted to try his hand at alfalfa farming.

Stoddart said Cox was a busy man, so she didn't have a lot of interaction with him. She remembered a time when he plowed her road after a big snowstorm, allowing her to get in and out.

"He didn't want any thanks for doing it; he just did it," she said. "He's been a good neighbor. He even took care of my dog when he ran away."