Top Air Force Official Found Dead

The Air Force's second-ranked procurement official was found dead in an apparent suicide Sunday night, the Washington Post reports. Charles Riechers was under investigation for pay he received from a private consulting firm for which he apparently did no work, as well as a potential conflict of interest in a $1.2-billion contract he awarded to Boeing.

Riechers earned $26,788 from a nonprofit Commonwealth Research Institute while awaiting his Pentagon appointment earlier this year, but told the Post last month, "I really didn't do anything for CRI. I got a paycheck from them." The Air Force defended the arrangement before the Senate Armed Forces Committee, saying Riechers retained their “full support.” (More Charles Riechers stories.)