DAYTON, Ohio -- Wednesday afternoon a former Trotwood police officer responded to allegations he’s a person of interest or suspect in a six-year-old missing persons case.

Tommy Swint resigned from the Trotwood Police Department in August, about a month after joining the force.

During a press conference held Wednesday by Swint and his lawyer, Anthony VanNoy, Swint said police questioned him about Niqui McCown shortly after her disappearance.

McCown was last seen in July of 2001 at a Laundromat in Richmond, Ind.

Swint and McCown worked together at an Ohio prison before her disappearance. During the press conference, Swint said Richmond, Ind., police questioned him, along with other workers at the prison, about where she hung out, her relationships and her family.

“It was just routine questioning,” Swint said. “Many people at the prison were questioned. Nobody was told they were a person of interest or a suspect in the case.”

Trotwood Police said Swint should have shared that information during his interview process and decided it was in the best interest of the department and the city for him to resign.

“We were informed by Richmond he was a person of interest, a strong person of interest in the investigation,” said Chief Mike Etter of the Trotwood Police Department. “And our concern with Mr. Swint when we discussed this with him wasn’t his innocence or guilt, but the fact that he did not disclose this.”

Swint said he didn’t bring it up during the interview process because he didn’t know he might be considered a person of interest in the case.

“If Detective Redmond had told me that or informed me of that, that would have been taken care of back then,” Swint said.

Detective Roger Redmond is an investigator working the McCown case.

Richmond Detective Sgt. Brad Berner said he believed one of his investigators was doing a routine review of the case and as a part of that contacted Trotwood police.

He said the department has not named any suspects in the case and said it’s routine to keep track of people they interviewed in the past.

“I believe one of the supervisors stated this is a person of interest,” said Berner. “Well a person of interest in our line of work is exactly that: someone we want to talk to or we’ve got information on. But it doesn’t mean he’s a suspect.”

Berner said his department had not been in contact with Swint in several years.

Swint said he wondered why this issue resurfaced now.

“I wonder the same thing,” Swint said. “Why just now when I’m a Trotwood police officer and not all of the years I was at the same place for 13 years. Why?”