Jobs lost in Columbia police missing exec probe

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Columbia Police Chief Randy Scott is making changes in his department as he reviews why it took officers 10 days to find the body of a missing lobbyist who killed himself in the parking garage of his office building and left a suicide note in his desk.

Scott announced Thursday that he fired his deputy chief of administration over investigations and accepted the retirement of his captain of investigations. Scott would not release their names or specify what the officers did wrong.

The moves came two days after the body of 61-year-old Tom Sponseller was found behind a locked door that Scott says was not opened in three searches of the garage.

Officers located Sponseller hours after finding a suicide note in his South Carolina Hospitality Association office.