Winfield Police have a person of interest they believe may have something to do with the December disappearance of Richard D. May, NewsCow has confirmed.
On Wednesday, as he had done at a press conference Tuesday, police chief Danny Parker declined to comment about possible suspects or persons of interest. May’s van was found Friday north of Pawhuska, Okla. and though May is still missing, he’s presumed dead.
"It’s going to take time just to process the van, we’re trying to collect fingerprint and DNA evidence," Parker said. "So at this time we don’t have enough to charge anyone with anything."
While no formal charges have been filed, sources tell NewsCow that police have interviewed acquaintances of a man they think may be responsible for May’s disappearance. The man ? who NewsCow won’t identify by name unless he is arrested or formally charged in the May case ? is currently in jail on a probation violation and other criminal charges unrelated to the disappearance case.
Parker would say that he strongly believes there are people who know something about what happened to May, who was known locally as the Harmonica Man because he often played a harmonica in public. Investigators are attempting to attach a Governor’s reward to the case that would increase a reward for information from $1,000 to $6,000.
"We’re hoping that will loosen some lips," Parker said. "Someone has to know something, and we need them to talk."
Investigators and the county attorney’s office acknowledge that the investigation is looking more and more like a homicide case, even though the 77-year-old man’s body has yet to be recovered. May’s vehicle was found in an area that sees little human traffic and it seems far-fetched to think May drove there, left the vehicle and wandered away, Parker said.
An extensive search for May was conducted in the area around the van but it turned up nothing. The van was hidden from sight so well that it went undiscovered until someone burning a pasture happened upon it.
"If someone hadn’t gone out there who knows how long it would have been until we found that van," Parker said. "It was in a very, very isolated place."
A number of of May’s acquaintances said he was fond of carrying large amounts of cash and his family told reporters he suffered the affects of Alzheimer’s. Those two factors could have made May an easy target but police said it’s not been proven the man had a lot of cash on him when he disappeared in early December.
"Maybe more than you or I’d carry but not an exorbitant amount of money that we know of," Parker said. "Not an amount worth killing someone for, of course there have been cases where people were killed for less."
Authorities, the police chief said, have a number of theories about what happened to May and are collecting evidence as quickly as they can. Parker described the case as "very difficult" and said because the case crosses state lines it could become more complicated.
If evidence indicates something happened to May while he was in Oklahoma, suspects would be charged in that state. Authorities in Osage County, where the van was recovered, said they were referring all questions about the case to investigators in Winfield.
Anyone with information regarding the investigation should call police at 221-5555 or Crime Stoppers at 221-7777.
