FBI exhumes body in 10 Most Wanted search

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 40 years ago, authorities said former diplomat William Bradford "Brad" Bishop Jr. bludgeoned his family to death with a sledgehammer and disappeared into the North Carolina woods. For decades, investigators believed he might have used his education, international experience and knowledge of foreign languages to flee to Europe and assume a new identity.

On Thursday, the FBI had a new theory: Bishop never left the rural South, living as a homeless vagrant until he was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Alabama in 1981. The John Doe in that case bears a strong resemblance to Bishop, so authorities have dug up the unidentified remains to see if they match his DNA, the FBI said. The agency said the results could be known soon but wouldn't elaborate.

Bishop was accused of killing his wife, mother and three sons in their Bethesda, Maryland, home in 1976. It's not clear why he killed his family, but back then, he had been passed over for a promotion and was prone to violent outbursts, the FBI said.