Body found in ex-cop's garage thought be his wife's, missing six weeks

Former Mentor Police Officer and Lake County Sheriff's Special Deputy Gary Stroud was charged with murder Tuesday morning in .

Stroud, 57, also faces charges of tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse and failing to report a death.

Stroud made no plea on the first three charges and pleaded not guilty on the fourth.

Judge John Trebets set his bond at $1,000,000.

Stroud's wife, Diane Stroud, has not been seen in six weeks, Mentor-on-the-Lake Police Chief John Gielink said.

The body found in Stroud's garage on Sunday .

Recently, Gary Stroud had been telling members of his family that Diane Stroud and left him and gone out of town, the chief said. However, on Sunday, a family member smelled something rotting in Stroud's garage on Marine Parkway.

When the family member asked about the smell, Stroud claimed that one of the chickens he kept in the back yard had died, Gielink said. But the family member was suspicious enough that she called police.

When police searched the garage, . The body has not yet been identified by the Cuyahoga County Coroner's Officer.

However, it is thought to be .

Mentor-on-the-Lake Police .

Stroud retired from the Mentor Police Department more than five years ago. Since then, he has worked for the Lake County Sheriff's Office part time as a special deputy.

He provided court security, helped deliver papers, escorted clerical employees to the bank and did other odd jobs, Dunlap said.

The sheriff added that Stroud did not have a history of violence at the department.

"There were never any serious problems with him," Dunlap said. "A couple of times he left his post early but that was addressed."

Stroud was laid off by the department in September -- not because he was remiss in his work but because of financial necessities, Dunlap said.

Stroud's house was foreclosed on in October, according to Lake County Court of Common Pleas records, but it has not been sold yet.

Authorities have not released a cause of death yet for the body.

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