Wallace G. "Wally" Fortuna, 52, was declared legally dead October 22. Fortuna has been missing since last Halloween, when he was seen leaving a large and raucous costume party--to which he had worn a court jester costume--to visit the home of his friend Montgomery Earl "Monty" Resor to sample a rare and expensive wine that Resor had recently acquired. Resor affirms that he and Fortuna sampled the wine but maintains that he has not seen or heard from Fortuna since. In statements made at the time of Fortuna's disappearance, Resor added that Fortuna failed to fully appreciate the sampled wine and that this was just one of a "thousand injuries" that Fortuna had inflicted upon him in their tumultuous friendship. Based on these suspicious statements, police conducted a wall-to-wall search of Resor's home but found no evidence there connecting Resor with any foul play toward Fortuna. The investigation hit a stone wall after that and has been relegated to a cold case file in a dark and dank file room. Tuesday's legal declaration brings final closure to the case and to Fortuna's family.
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