STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - A man wanted for allegedly burglarizing a home where a woman’s body was found was arrested Wednesday near Trappers Lake in Colorado’s Flat Tops Wilderness Area, the Routt County sheriff said.
Cole J. Pollard, 22, was arrested around 11 a.m. at the lake’s recreation area, Sheriff Garrett Wiggins said. Pollard’s vehicle was found in the area Tuesday night.
Wiggins described Pollard as a person of interest in the slaying of Patricia Richmond, 22, whose body was found Monday in a home near the small community of Clark outside Steamboat Springs. An arrest warrant alleged that Pollard burglarized the home and that several items, including guns, were missing.
“I feel comfortably we are going to be able to tie everything in and provide an explanation,” Wiggins said. “I still don’t think it’s going to make sense one way or another.”
The sheriff said neighbors saw Pollard’s truck at the home, which is owned by the parents of Richmond’s fiance, Keith West.
Pollard was transported from Garfield County, where he was arrested, to Routt County, where he may face additional charges, Wiggins said.
It was not known if Pollard, described as a distant cousin of West, had a lawyer representing him yet who could comment on the allegations.
Richmond’s body was found tied and face down, Steamboat Today reported (https://bit.ly/1JxFgZx ). An autopsy was conducted Wednesday, but investigators have not said how she died or what the motive might have been.
About a dozen officers from agencies including Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service participated in the search for Pollard, who is due in court Thursday afternoon.
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