Wade indicted on three new charges

Joshua Wade was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on weapons and contraband charges, the U.S. District Attorney's office said.
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Federal prosecutors are asking for help locating Joshua Wade's .45-caliber Glock.

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Wade, 27, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, an illegal drug user in possession of a firearm and possessing contraband in prison.

Prosecutors were able to convince the grand jury to charge Wade without having the actual weapon. They are looking for help from the public to find the gun Wade is accused of carrying over the summer, a .45-caliber Glock semiautomatic pistol.

The new charges are in addition to bank fraud counts already pending against Wade in federal court. Last month he was accused of using the ATM card of Mindy Schloss, a psychiatric nurse whose body was found Sept. 13 off Knik-Goose Bay Road in Wasilla. Wade has not been charged in connection with her death.

Wade is no stranger to serious criminal charges. He was acquitted of killing another Anchorage woman, Della Brown, in 2000. He served time for evidence tampering in connection with that crime.

The most recent indictment charges Wade, a convicted felon, of having the semiautomatic pistol during July and August while also in possession of marijuana.

He is also charged with having marijuana in jail after his most recent arrest.

The press release from the U.S. Attorney's office did not explain how he got the illegal drug while in custody at the Anchorage jail, or what evidence was used to link him to the gun.

Christina Greaser, a friend of Wade's who led police to him when he was on the run in early September, said she was asked about the gun and the drugs at the grand jury.

She told jurors Wade often carried the gun, which had a red laser sight, she said in an interview Thursday. He usually wrapped it in a bandana and tucked it in the waistband of his pants, she said.

Wade was arrested about a month after Schloss' disappearance and turned over to the FBI. Investigators believe he is the man a security camera captured using Schloss' bank card at an ATM machine around the time of her disappearance. He is scheduled to go on trial Jan. 7 on those charges.

"Do we believe he is involved in the Mindy Schloss case? Absolutely," Anchorage police spokesman Paul Honeman said Thursday. "We know he's someone who has knowledge or is connected to Mindy Schloss and her disappearance, perhaps even her death."

Honeman said detectives are following up on almost daily leads in the case and working with law enforcement in other agencies. Police also are awaiting results of lab tests on evidence taken from several sites. Some of the items were sent to the state crime lab, other items went to the FBI lab and some to a West Coast lab for DNA analysis, Honeman said.

FBI spokesman Eric Gonzalez said his agency is helping police with the investigation.

"We are continuing to assist APD as needed as they request," he said.

Police say Wade's DNA was found on the steering wheel of her abandoned car.

The maximum sentence for the new firearms charges is 10 years. The maximum for the contraband charge is five years, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's office.