"If the circumstances underlying the charged conduct in this complaint are proven, or the missing person is found dead, then Mr. Wade is looking at prosecution for kidnapping and murder," said assistant U.S. attorney Crandon Randell.
Wade, 27, spoke little during the 15-minute court proceeding -- a hearing on federal charges of bank fraud that essentially will keep him in jail while authorities continue their investigation into the disappearance of Mindy Schloss.
A mix of those who support Wade and those who want to see him behind bars gathered in the courtroom for the brief hearing.
Greg "Bubba" Wade, the prisoner's father, sat in the front row behind his son. A big man, he stretched his arms over the chairs next to him, revealing tattoos on his upper arms. He didn't say anything.
Joshua Wade's friend Christina Greaser and her mother, Tina Greaser, sat in the next row. Christina Greaser, who says she has been close to him for three years, turned Wade over to authorities. She has said she believes in him and did it for his own good after he had been on the lam for five days.
On the other side of the courtroom sat FBI agents, police detectives and other federal prosecutors.
Anchorage Police Department homicide detective Pam Perrenoud, leading the investigation into Schloss' disappearance, watched the proceeding intently.
Wade has not been charged with harming Schloss, a 52-year-old nurse who vanished in early August and is presumed dead. But police and the FBI say he used her bank card in the days after she was last seen, and that makes Wade, a 27-year-old man best known for being acquitted in 2003 of a sensational murder and rape, "a person of interest" in Schloss' disappearance.
Anchorage police Lt. Dave Koch said Tuesday that Wade revealed little to investigators who questioned him after his capture on Sunday.
Police appear to be banking on Wade's having told someone about whatever happened to Schloss. Koch said investigators hope a friend or acquaintance will call with information.
Because Wade is now locked up, people who have been afraid to talk to police may now feel free to come forward, Koch said.
"I think someone knows," he said.
After the slaying of Della Brown in 2000, Wade bragged that he had killed her and brought friends to see the body. His defense attorneys were able to convince a jury that he had just happened to find Brown dead and lied about killing her to impress people.
In Tuesday's proceeding at the federal courthouse downtown, Randell brought up Wade's prior criminal history, including the allegations of murder, rape and robbery from the Brown case. He told Magistrate John Roberts that Wade may flee if let out of jail, given his history.
In answer to questions by Roberts, Wade said he had no money, so a federal public defender was appointed.
Roberts scheduled Wade's bail review for Monday during a preliminary hearing at which the prosecution will have to present enough of its fraud case against Wade to justify proceeding to trial.
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