Casper Police last month executed a search warrant on a credit report of a man who wanted to have a romantic relationship with Kristi Richardson, the Casper woman reported missing five months ago, according to court records.

The man is one of several "persons of interest" who has piqued the interest of law enforcement, Detective Shannon Daley said Tuesday.

Because he did not respond to calls from K2 Radio, we are not reporting his name at this time.

The man is not a suspect, one who has an apparent direct connection to the case, said Daley, who filed the search warrant affidavit for the Experian report with the Natrona County Circuit Court on Feb. 5. The report may fill in the gaps of his whereabouts on the night of Richardson's disappearance.

"It's not a break in the case," she said. "It's more information-gathering, trying to back up statements that were said or disprove statements that were said."

While not a break, Daley's affidavit marks the first public insight in several months into the baffling case.

Richardson's last known contact was with a member of her company on 7:45 p.m. Monday, Oct. 6. She is 5-feet, 4-inches tall and weighs 115 pounds.

Police searched her house the next day and found a cell phone in her bed, her purse with a large amount of cash, identification on the kitchen counter, and no immediately identified evidence of foul play, according to an affidavit filed in October. Officers were told a garage door opener usually kept in her purse was missing, and they observed stains on the sheets that could possibly be blood or urine.

The family has offered a $30,000 reward for information leading to her location and or the conviction of anyone involved.

Police have looked at the case from her just having gone missing to being a criminal action, executed a search warrant at her trucking company, and received numerous tips and interviewed a lot of people.

Daley wrote in her affidavit that the current person of interest had been interviewed before, had previously worked for Richardson's company, and denied being in her neighborhood on Oct. 6.

He had wanted a romantic relationship with Richardson before her husband died two years ago, and then again after he died. She turned him down both times.

"Officers located letters written by [the man] to Richardson discussing how Richardson had broken [his] heart, and describing his frustrations for Richardson [sic] refusal to have a romantic relationship with him," according to the affidavit.

During the first interview by police on Oct. 8, he gave evasive and incomplete answers, was unable to account from his whereabouts from the afternoon of Oct. 6 to the next morning, according to the affidavit. "Detectives attempted numerous times to have him account for that time frame but each time, he jumped around to what he did either Sunday or Monday morning. He did eventually state he thought he was at his shop on Monday evening."

Police interviewed the man's wife on Oct. 8, too. She said her husband had removed all distinguishing business decals from his black Dodge pickup on Oct. 7. He also told her he was going to quit that business, but had not done so.

On Oct. 9, she told detectives her husband got a haircut on Oct. 6, took a shower and ate at his home. He then went to a friend's house in Evansville, went to his shop to work on his trucks, called her about 10:30 p.m. and returned home at 11 p.m.

The next morning, her husband took a load to somewhere in the Gillette-Wright area, called her and told her that he had to do extra work. He returned home about 7 p.m. that night.

Police tracked three of the man's phone numbers, verified a text message from him at 7:55 p.m. on Oct. 6, and a phone call at 11:01 p.m. The stories of the haircut and vising the friend in Evansville also were true.

However, his whereabouts between 8:15 p.m. to 11 p.m. that night are still unknown.

And there were inconsistencies in his stories, especially about his vehicles.

On Oct. 9, he was to make a delivery to Oklahoma using his Peterbit semi-tractor trailer, but his company told police he used his pickup.

On Nov. 21, detectives interviewed him again. He he said he only uses his pickup for work and must have been driving his Isuzu the night of Richardson's disappearance. However, detectives had confirmed he was driving his pickup that night.

Four days later, he called Daley. He told her he forgot that he had picked up an item in her neighborhood that night, but could not give give any information regarding this that could be verified, she wrote.

"When asked when the last time he saw Richardson alive, [the man] rephrased the question as 'the last time I talked to Kris at the office,'" she wrote.

 

 

 

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