Major Bashinsky, Potato Chip Heir, Found Dead on Golf Course After Two Week Search

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (CBS/AP) The family of prominent attorney and potato chip fortune heir, Major Bashinsky, has gotten the news they probably feared since he went missing March 3 - their loved one is dead.

Bashinsky's body was found floating in a pond on a golf course in Birmingham, Ala. by golfers Monday. His identity was verified Wednesday using dental records.

Bashinsky, 63, was last seen on March 3 at his office in Mountain Brook, a residential neighborhood in Birmingham. His car was found four days later by his daughter, while she was putting up missing posters, about two miles from the golf course where his body was later found.

Contrary to other media reports, Mountain Brook Police Chief Johnny Stanley said Bashinsky was not in a bag when his body was found.

"We still don't know if we have a homicide or a suicide," Stanley said.

The day after Bashinsky disappeared, Golden Enterprises, whose parent company is controlled by the Bashinsky family, received a letter that was critical of the Bashinsky family for collecting millions of dollars in dividends on Golden Enterprises stock at the expense of workers.

The letter - which equated the family to "vampires" - was turned over to the FBI, said CEO Mark McCutcheon.

Golden Enterprises reported sales of $122 million in its latest fiscal year. The Bashinsky family remains the largest shareholder, through the SYB Inc. investment company controlled by the missing man's stepmother, Joann Bashinsky.

Major Bashinsky is not directly involved with the snack company.