Anthony Neubauer

Local and federal officials remain quiet regarding an indictment announced suddenly last week against a Falconer man in a years-long murder investigation not previously made public.

Anthony Neubauer was arraigned on a charge of kidnapping resulting in death — rare in Chautauqua County. The 36-year-old village resident appeared in court Tuesday with his attorney, Eric Soehnlein.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said a detention hearing will be held today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah McCarthy in Buffalo.

Neubauer is accused of kidnapping an individual identified only as “J.A.” on May 27, 2014. In a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, Neubauer allegedly transported the victim from New York to Pennsylvania, resulting in the victim’s death.

No further information from the FBI, Jamestown Police Department or U.S. Attorney’s Office has been released regarding the indictment.

Soehnlein declined comment on behalf of his client when reached by email. Questions to police and the FBI were referred to the prosecutor, who was not going to discuss the case.

News of the indictment was made more surprising in that it described a “cold case murder investigation” not previously announced either by federal officials or local police.

Though details remain scarce, The Post-Journal has learned the charge is indeed connected to the disappearance of Joseph Anthony, last seen May 27, 2014, in the 700 block of East Second Street in Jamestown. Then 43 years old, Anthony reportedly left all his belongings at his Broadhead Avenue residence.

Numerous searches for the city resident were conducted following his disappearance.

More than a year later, in late June and early July in 2015, the FBI executed a federal search warrant in Chandlers Valley, located south of Sugar Grove. Law enforcement from New York and Pennsylvania also descended on Warren County.

An FBI public affairs specialist, who was at the Warren County site in 2015, would not comment on the subject of the warrant. However, it’s believed the days-long effort in Chandlers Valley was tied to Anthony’s disappearance.

It’s not clear when investigators may have located Anthony or when the case turned into a murder probe. In its news release last week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not specify where in Pennsylvania that Neubauer transported “J.A.”

A message sent to a relative of Anthony has not been returned.

Neubauer made news in November 2019 after he suffered serious injuries in a shooting at an East Second Street tavern. His family later pressured police and the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office to file charges against a person reported to have been the shooter. No charges have been announced in the case.

The charge of kidnapping resulting in death comes from the Federal Kidnapping Act. It was passed following the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s 20-month-old baby in March 1932. The son of the famed American aviator was later found dead.

Also known as the Lindbergh Law, it made kidnapping across state lines a federal crime.

As noted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the kidnapping resulting in death charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison.