Authorities are asking Durangoans to calm down over reports that a man who was once a suspected murderer is in the area.
For the last several days, rumors have been flying in emails, social media and by word of mouth that Darrell David Rice, who was never convicted of murder charges stemming from two 1996 deaths in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, has been seen in the area.
Durango Police Chief Jim Spratlen said Friday afternoon he has received reports that Rice is in the area and has received calls from concerned residents. But he could not say positively that Rice is in the area, and that if he is, he has every right to be here.
Rice spent about 10 years in prison for a 1997 abduction in Shenandoah National Park. He was released in 2007, then did two more prison stints for probation violations.
“The bottom line is he’s done his time. There’s nothing we can do,” Spratlen said. “People are overreacting, I think.”
Lt. Ed Aber, with the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, also said Friday there is no reason Rice can’t legally be here.
“It would be inappropriate for us to comment on a citizen,” Aber said.
Although the Sheriff’s Office has noted there has been a large social media response to the situation, it has not been getting calls about Rice, Aber said.
The Durango Herald has received several dozen calls and email messages in the last week expressing concern that Rice is in the area.
Durango Police received a report that Rice was trying to get a job in the area.
Spratlen said people should never drop their guards against potential threats, of which there are many. But he cautioned against people panicking over one person.
“We have to just realize that he has the freedom to walk about the area. He has the freedom to get a job here, have a house and everything else,” Spratlen said. “All I know is he’s not wanted, and we ain’t looking for him.”
In 1998, Rice received an 11-year sentence, spent in federal prison in Petersburg, Virginia, for attempting to abduct and verbally and physically assaulting a woman bicyclist in Shenandoah National Park in 1997.
Authorities said the woman was able to avoid being forced into Rice’s truck and that he then tried to run her over. Investigators later found leg and hand restraints in his vehicle. Rice was living in Maryland at the time.
In 2002, while in prison, he was indicted by federal prosecutors for the 1996 murders of two women in Shenandoah. The case was set for trial in 2004 when federal prosecutors withdrew charges because DNA of a hair found at the crime scene did not match Rice or the victims.
The case was dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning charges could still be filed again against Rice. The case was based primarily on jailhouse informants, according to a 2004 Associated Press report.
Rice was released from federal prison in 2007 but served nine months in 2009 for a probation violation and more time in 2010 after again violating conditions of his release, according to The Hook, a weekly newspaper in Charlottesville, Virginia, that went out of business last year.
Darrell David Rice’s name did not appear Friday on two lists of registered sex offenders in Colorado, one of which is maintained by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. According to The Hook, he was required as part of his probation to register as a sex offender in whichever state he inhabits.
Attempts to reach Rice, now 46, at two motels he was rumored to be staying at were unsuccessful. Neither had a Darrell Rice registered as a guest.
johnp@durangoherald.com
