BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - The search for a trauma surgeon and former military weapons expert who disappeared after the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend in a Buffalo hospital escalated into a nationwide manhunt Thursday, with authorities warning law enforcers and the public he could be armed and dangerous.
A pick-up order for Timothy Jorden, 49, has been transmitted to every local, state and federal law enforcement office in the nation, Buffalo Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda said. The search for Jorden, now in its second day, includes officials with the FBI, Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Police were confident Jorden hadn't crossed the border into Canada, but Derenda said they do not know where he is or might be headed.
"He's out there somewhere," Derenda said at a news conference.
The search for Jorden began Wednesday morning when 33-year-old Jacqueline Wisniewski was found shot to death in a stairwell at the Erie County Medical Center, where she and Jorden both worked.
All four vehicles registered to Jorden have been accounted for, Derenda said.
Earlier Thursday, police dogs searched a ravine near Jorden's luxury lakeshore home.
Jorden, who has been licensed to practice medicine in New York for a decade, has served as a role model for black youths in Buffalo, people who know him told the Buffalo News.
Police say Wisniewski was shot four times. Derenda said the shooting wasn't a random act, and media reports say Wisniewski was Jorden's ex-girlfriend.
Heather Shipley, a friend of Wisniewski, told WIVB-TV that Wisniewski feared Jorden. Wisniewski used to live with Jorden but left him because she believed he was having affairs with other women, Shipley said. When they broke up, he wouldn't let go, Shipley said.
She said Wisniewski told her the doctor had put a GPS tracking device in her car and once held her captive in her home for a day and a half, wielding a knife.
"She told me if anything happened to her, that it was him," Shipley told the station.
Those who know Jorden noted changes in recent months. Colleagues told the Buffalo News he had been acting strangely recently, avoiding eye contact and basic communication.
Jorden joined the National Guard in high school, went into the Army after graduation and served with the Army's Special Forces, first as a weapons expert, then as a medic, the News reported. In those roles, he served in the Caribbean, Japan and Korea.
Jorden is certified in advanced-trauma life support and has received awards recognizing his relationships with patients, his teaching skills and his involvement in the community, the newspaper said.