John Wheeler III, a Washington insider who served under three Presidents and was a driving force behind the construction of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, was found dead in a Delaware landfill last Friday. Sanitation workers were unloading trash at the Cherry Island landfill in Wilmington when they found Wheeler’s body, which had apparently been inside one of the containers the truck had picked up that morning. Wheeler, who was 66, was scheduled to take an Amtrak train from D.C. to Wilmington on December 28, but investigators are still piecing together exactly what happened. The death has been ruled a homicide.

There are several pieces to the story which will likely have conspiracy theorists working overtime — Wheeler had spent the last two years working on the development of Air Force Cyber Command. But according to the AP, he had doubts that the country was really prepared to deal with full-scale cyber war. No one in Wheeler’s family or in his neighborhood is talking much, and what plan the police are taking with regard to the investigation (or even which law enforcement agencies are involved) isn’t exactly clear.

What is clear is that Wheeler was dedicated to honoring the service of American military personnel, having chaired of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund which helped get the iconic Memorial erected in 1982.

Considering the outpouring of remembrance, the way Wheeler came to an end is more than odd. “He was just not the sort of person who would wind up in a landfill,” said Wheeler’s attorney.