A 49-year-old man was charged Thursday, March 2, 2023, with kidnapping and killing Matthew James Branning, the Sellersville man who has been missing since October 2021 after leaving his job in Silverdale Borough.
Following an unyielding investigation by Detectives with the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and the Perkasie Borough Police Department with the assistance of the Bucks County Investigating Grand Jury, Michael Allen Stark, of Royersford, was charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and related offenses for killing Branning, his co-worker at Enchlor Inc., in Silverdale.
This investigation, aided by tips from the public, concluded that Stark kidnapped Branning at the end of his work shift on Oct. 15, 2021, forced him to withdraw money from a nearby ATM, and then fled into New Jersey in the victim’s vehicle. At some point during the encounter, Stark killed Branning and disposed of his body.
The victim’s body has yet to be recovered.