MANCHESTER, England (AP) - A city police chief who led an investigation into charges that Britain cooperated with secret CIA flights to transport terrorism suspects without formal proceedings has been found dead, his deputy said Tuesday.
Manchester Chief Constable Michael Todd, 50, was found dead in Snowdonia, about 240 miles northwest of London, Deputy Chief Constable Dave Whatton said. He had been missing since going out for a walk Monday during his day off.
The telegraph.co.uk:
Senior officers became concerned about the welfare of Chief Constable Michael Todd after taking a series of increasingly desperate telephone calls from him on Monday afternoon.
The calls prompted them to scramble rescue helicopters to north Wales in a bid to find Mr Todd, who was off-duty and had decided to go walking alone.
A police source said: "He spoke to a number of people about his state of mind. They became worried."
By Monday night, 25 rescuers from the RAF and the Llanberis and Ogwen mountain rescue teams were at the scene, working in appalling conditions with gales gusting at up to 70 mph.
Mr Todd had been due to attend a meeting on Tuesday morning with other police chiefs in Scotland Yard.
However, by then his body had already been found nearly 3,000 ft up Bwlch Glas, an exposed area on Snowdon.
Officials were worried about his state of mind? What was he taking, LSD? And why did he decide to go off alone into a blizzard in the mountains?
Mr. Todd's profile from the Independent:
Michael Todd was a hands on chief constable who was admired in the force and maintained a media-friendly profile.
His biggest challenge was tackling gun and drugs gangs in Manchester.
In 2005 he proved his willingness to take a stand when he volunteered to be tasered in front of TV cameras to prove the controversial device was safe.
He began his policing career in 1976 when he joined the Essex force, where he served as both a uniformed officer and a detective.
As an inspector, he served at Bethnal Green in east London, as part of the first management exchange scheme between Essex Police and the Metropolitan Police Service.
He was appointed an Assistant Chief Constable in Nottinghamshire in 1995 with a role including operational policing and management and technical services.
In 1998, he was appointed as the Deputy Assistant Commissioner responsible for policing the North West Area of London.
In 2000, following his promotion to Assistant Commissioner in the Metropolitan Police, he was responsible for Territorial Policing, covering all 32 London Boroughs.
He led many high profile operations and events, including the policing of May Day demonstrations, Notting Hill Carnival, the Queen's Jubilee celebrations and the Met's Street Crime initiative.
According to his profile on the GMP website, Mr Todd believed the relationship between the media and the police was very important.
In 1992 he invited TV crews to join him on raids in an attempt to demonstrate openness and reassurance to the public.
He was known as being very 'media friendly' and was interviewed on numerous television and radio programmes, including the Today programme on Radio 4 and Newsnight.
During the May Day demonstrations in 2001 he held 66 TV and Radio interviews during the two days, which was a record.
Mr Todd stated his commitment to visible policing on the streets and to take the fight against crime to the criminal through proactive "intelligence-led policing".
His leadership style focused on getting onto the streets.
He became chief constable of Greater Manchester Police in 2002.
Mr Todd had both a first class honours degree and a Master of Philosophy degree in politics.
According to his biography on the force website, he spent his spare time with his children, mountain biking and reading - particularly military and political biographies.
His heroes were Alexander the Great, Generals Norman Schwarzkopf and George Patton.
In 2006 he was elected as Vice President of the Association of Chief Police Officers.
He was also a member of the ACPO Terrorism Committee and the ACPO Media Advisory Group.
Following is his biography from the Greater Manchester Police website:
Michael Todd QPM M Phil BA (Hons)
Michael Todd joined Essex Police in 1976 and served as both a uniformed officer and a detective.
As an Inspector, he served at Bethnal Green in London, as part of the first management exchange scheme between Essex Police and the Metropolitan Police Service.
He was appointed an Assistant Chief Constable in Nottinghamshire in 1995 with a role including operational policing and management and technical services.
In 1998, he was appointed as the Deputy Assistant Commissioner responsible for policing the North West Area of London.
In 2000, following his promotion to Assistant Commissioner in the Metropolitan Police, he was responsible for Territorial Policing, covering all 32 London Boroughs. He has led many high profile operations and events, including the policing of May Day demonstrations, Notting Hill Carnival, the Queen's Jubilee celebrations and the Met's Street Crime initiative.
Mr Todd has both first class honours degree and a Master of Philosophy degree in Politics, a subject he enjoys tremendously, and was recognised by Essex University as their Alumnus of the Year for 2003.
That's weird - Mr. Todd only became "crazy" and made frantic phone calls to officials since he started to investigate the CIA rendition flights of suspects who then were tortured.
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