Boulder police are looking for a blue 1979 Datsun once driven by Diego Olmos Alcalde, who is suspected in the brutal rape and murder of a University of Colorado student.
The Chilean-born Alcalde is in custody after being arrested Saturday on a parole violation. Detectives served him with an arrest warrant on murder, kidnapping and sexual-assault charges Sunday.
Boulder authorities believe he was driving the Datsun 280Z around Dec. 21, 1997, when Susannah Chase, 23, was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat near her home.
They are asking the public’s help in finding the car. Records indicate the vehicle was sold at auction in Denver in March 1998. The vehicle identification number is HS130111372.
Alcalde came to the attention of Boulder police last week after the Colorado Bureau of Investigation alerted them that a DNA sample in the FBI’s database matched DNA found on Chase’s body, said Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner.
Wyoming authorities took the DNA sample when Alcalde was serving time for kidnapping in connection with a 2000 assault on a woman in Wyoming.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a hold on Alcalde while he was serving seven years in a Wyoming prison.
He was paroled in July 2007 and turned over to ICE officials. But because Alcalde — who came to the U.S. after his mother married William Bayers of Denver — is a naturalized citizen, ICE had no reason to hold him.
“We took him into custody and then discovered that he had derived U.S. citizenship from a parent. ICE released him the next day,” said ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok.
Bayers refused to talk about Alcalde, saying police have warned him not to discuss the case. All he would say is: “He is a bad hombre.”
In an interview with the Boulder Camera, Alcalde’s half-sister, Ona Bayers, said that he once told her that he had beaten a man to death with a baseball bat in a bar fight.
She told the newspaper she didn’t know about Chase’s slaying at the time and didn’t connect his story with the woman’s death. “I do wish that I had given the police names, that I had given them information. I thought he was just trying to be a macho man.”
She couldn’t be reached on Monday.
But after the story of his arrest appeared in The Denver Post, someone who identified herself as Alcalde’s half-sister posted a comment about him on the Post’s web site. She couldn’t be reached for comment or to confirm her identity.
She wrote: “He endured a lot of emotional pain as a child which created a monster. I’m not saying this to excuse his actions. I’m saying it has to do with the up bring of a person to determine what he or she may do later in life. My brother is very wrong for what he has done. I’m pleased that he has been caught and that justice will be served to the family. That may sound bad coming from his sister. I just want the right thing done,” she wrote.
Police are asking anyone with information about the Datsun to contact Detective Fred Patterson at 303-441-3330. Those with information regarding Alcalde also can contact Boulder County Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS(8477) or 800-444-3776. Tips also can be submitted via the Crime Stoppers website at .
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
