Although the search for the body of a slain Cooperstown, N.D., man has been curtailed, partly by winter weather, the Griggs County Sheriff made clear Tuesday he's also expanding its scope.
Sheriff Robert Hook put out an appeal to the public for any information, including possible sightings as far as Fargo-Moorhead, of a maroon 1995 GMC Safari van which was the last place anyone saw Kurt Johnson.
Hook says Johnson, 54, last was seen being helped into the van by the man charged with murdering him, Daniel Wacht, 30, after the two had been drinking in the Oasis Bar in Cooperstown on New Year's Eve.
By Jan. 4, Johnson was reported missing by family and friends. Wacht was arrested Jan. 5, after Johnson's severed head, with a bullet hole in the forehead, was found in the basement of the house Wacht was renting.
Jan. 7, Wacht was charged with murder in Johnson's death and is being held without bail in the Stutsman County jail in Jamestown.
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Despite days of searching in and around Cooperstown with the aid of several other law enforcement agencies, Hook said this week he's "regrouping" the investigation to focus on the prosecution of Wacht. The snow and cold have hampered the search, he said.
But it's clear the search isn't entirely local, based on Hook's news release Tuesday about Wacht's van, which remains in evidence.
"We are asking for information from anyone that may have seen this van between Cooperstown and the Fargo-Moorhead area between Jan. 1, 20011 and Jan. 4, 2011," Hook said in Tuesday's release.
Fargo is about 110 miles southeast of Cooperstown by the most direct route: east of Cooperstown on state Highway 200 to state Highway 32, south on 32 to Valley City, then east on Interstate 94 to Fargo. But of course there are other routes, using lesser highways and roads, crossing several rivers and streams, including one along and across Lake Ashtabula, north of Valley City, the result of a dam on the Sheyenne River.
The simple block of geography between Cooperstown and Fargo takes in about 3,000 square miles.
Obviously, if Hook thinks Wacht may have driven his van to Fargo during those days, the search for Johnson's body, in whatever condition, extends far beyond the Cooperstown region alone.
The van's North Dakota license plate number is GKZ 294.
Hook said he couldn't comment on what, if any, evidence might have been found in the van when Wacht was arrested at his job at Sheyenne Tooling and Mfg., in Cooperstown.
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Court filings on the case, including the search warrants, have been sealed.
Wacht has made only an initial appearance last week in court on the murder charge, when bail was denied. He has not entered a plea yet.
"Our investigation is still in the early stages and we have worked every day to complete our case and look at any leads possible," Hook said this week. "It's not over by any means. We are in the middle and beginning of it right now."
Reach Lee at (701) 780-1237; (800) 477-6572, ext. 237; or send e-mail to slee@gfherald.com .
