PHILADELPHIA (AP)—A former NFL quarterback who failed to show for sentencing on drunken driving charges nearly four years ago was killed in a car crash in Greece, authorities said, leaving behind an unsolved mystery involving two suspicious fires and years spent on the lam.
The State Department used fingerprints to determine that the victim of Saturday’s crash was William “Jeff” Komlo, according to Jim Vito, Chester County’s acting chief detective. Vito said he was initially skeptical, concerned because of Komlo’s history that he might have faked his own death.
“Even though we heard that he was deceased, the first reaction was that, well, we better make a positive identification,” Vito said.
Once the State Department verified the fingerprints were those of the 52-year-old fugitive, Vito was satisfied.
“As far as we’re concerned, we’re closing this now.”
A State Department spokesman, Noel Clay, declined to comment “out of respect for the family.” He would not say where in Greece the accident happened or release any details of the crash.
Komlo played for the Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers over five NFL seasons from 1979 to 1983. Read more of this story
