WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 The second highest ranking procurement official in the U.S. Air Force has been found dead in an apparent suicide in Virginia.
A memo sent by the Air Force Operations Center in the Pentagon said Charles Riechers, principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisitions, "was found deceased in his home, cause of death appears to be suicide, time of death is unknown," The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Kraig Troxell, a spokesman for the Loudoun County, Va., sheriff's office, said there were "no obvious signs of foul play" related to the death.
Two military officials told The New York Times that Riechers' death was apparently the result of running his car's engine in his garage.
Riechers was the subject of an Oct. 1 article in the Post that revealed he was employed by the Commonwealth Research Institute while awaiting confirmation of his Pentagon post. Riechers had said he received a paycheck from the institute, but all the work he did under their employ was for Sue Payton, assistant Air Force secretary for acquisition.
He was an active-duty officer in the Air Force for 20 years before retiring in 2002.
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