By Allan Lengel

Ted Dan Gardiner, the undercover witness who helped the feds build a case against more than two dozen people charged with looting American Indian artifacts in the Southwest U.S. , has committed suicide, the Associated Press reported.

AP reported that the 52-year-old apparently shot himself Monday in a Salt Lake City suburb home.

The wire service reported that Gardiner had worked with the FBI and the Bureau of Land Management for more than two years.

Two of the 26 defendants committed suicide last year, AP reported.