A Montgomery County man is charged with kidnapping and killing his co-worker, Matthew James Branning, who went missing in October 2021, Bucks County officials announced Friday.
An “unyielding investigation” led to the arrest of Michael Allen Stark, 49, in April 2022 in Wayne County, Michigan. He was extradited back to Pennsylvania on July 27, 2022, said Bucks County First Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Schorn, at a press conference Friday in Doylestown.
On Thursday, a Bucks County grand jury recommended Stark be charged. He is being held in Bucks County Correctional Facility without bail, charged with first degree murder, kidnapping, robbery and other felonies.
Stark is accused of kidnapping Branning, who was 50 at the time, from Enchlor Inc. in Silverdale Borough, where they both worked, Schorn said, and later killing him.
“On the day of Branning’s disappearance, just prior to the end of his shift, evidence shows that although Stark failed to appear for his shift, he took an Uber to Enchlor and was lying in wait for Branning,” said the assistant DA.
Stark then forced Branning to withdraw $500 from a drive-thru ATM in Sellersville and then fled to New Jersey in Branning’s 2002 silver Lexus SUV. Surveillance video showed the bank transaction and revealed no one in the passenger seat, but a person is “partially visible” in the back seat, Schorn said. All Branning’s belongings were in the vehicle.
“At some point during the encounter, Stark killed Branning and disposed of his body,” Schorn said.
Branning’s body has not yet been found, authorities said. And, it’s not yet known how he was killed.
Schorn said there’s an hour and a half unaccounted for after Branning’s bank account is used to get gas at 7:05 p.m. in the Somers Point, N.J. area. Cellphone data then tracks to a Wawa in Cape May N.J. two hours later. Stark is seen on surveillance footage making a purchase at the store at 9:27 p.m. Branning is not seen, according to officials. An employee at the store later told authorities Stark bought a car phone charger and a USB cable.
Several hours later, Stark’s cellphone was tracked to Needle Park in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. When Branning’s vehicle was found in Falls Church, Virginia two months after he went missing, authorities checked it and collected evidence linked to Stark. His DNA was found on the steering wheel. They also recovered crack vials linked to the drug market in Kensington, said officials.
Since Branning’s disappearance, his family has said it was unlike him not to contact them or miss work. “He was loved dearly by his family,” Schorn said Friday. “He lived with his elderly mother.”
“He was an outdoorsman and lived a healthy lifestyle,” the assistant DA said. “He didn’t do drugs.” He was highly regarded by his employer.
Following the men’s disappearance in 2021, Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub held a press conference asking for the help of the public and media, calling the men’s abrupt vanishing, “extraordinary.”
“It’s disturbing to me. It’s like they just ceased to exist,” said Weintraub.
Schorn stressed the help of the media and the public in the investigation, as well as the relentless hard work, determination and cooperation of multiple law enforcement agencies.
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