Colorado homicide investigation expands as vehicle found in Mississippi; 2 "armed and dangerous" people at large
Authorities have located a pickup truck with a "HUNTER" sticker on the left fender in Mississippi that authorities believe is connected to an alleged homicide in Colorado. Police are seeking three people and believe two of them are armed and dangerous.
The investigation spans multiple counties in Colorado and the El Paso County Sheriff's Office confirmed the discovery of the vehicle, which had been the focus of a multi-state search.
The investigation began on Dec. 19, when deputies responded to a home in the 1800 block of Pima Drive in unincorporated El Paso County. Deputies found large quantities of blood in several locations and issued a "Be on the Lookout" alert for two missing men: 46-year-old John Rankin Morris and 37-year-old Stephen Walker.
On Dec. 23, authorities sought help from the public to locate a black Audi A4 linked to the case. The next day, Park County sheriff's deputies responded to a welfare check near Hartsel, Colorado, where they found the Audi at a trailhead. Investigators tied the vehicle to the missing person case in El Paso County.
At a nearby residence, deputies discovered a deceased adult male. Due to the severity of the case, the Park County Sheriff's Office requested assistance from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. The identity of that person will be released by the El Paso County Coroner's Office after an autopsy.
Investigators have identified Morris and a third person, 43-year-old Hailey Diane Cole, as persons of interest in the Dec. 19 incident. Cole is described as 5'5" and 145 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. Morris is 5'9" and 150 pounds, with brown and gray hair, blue eyes, and a tattoo on his right ear. "Both Morris and Cole are considered armed and dangerous. If seen, members of the community should contact 9-1-1," the El Paso County Sheriff's Office said.
Walker remains "missing under suspicious circumstances," the sheriff's office said. He's described as 5'11", 160 pounds, with tan skin, black hair, brown eyes, and tattoos on his right arm.
CBS News Colorado's sister station in Colorado Springs KKTV reported on Saturday that a blue 1994 Ford F-150 with Colorado license plate TQQ039 and a number sticker that reads "HUNTER" was located in Mississippi as part of the investigation, according to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office.
Cole has a criminal record in Colorado going back to at least 2018, including a still-open case for third-degree assault in Park County from 2021 and a conviction for misdemeanor harassment and telephone obstruction from 2018 in Chaffee County, for which she had probation revoked four times. She was sentenced to 53 days in jail and given credit for 51 days served, along with a year of probation. There have also been several cases involving violations of protection orders over the past several years, but those cases have been dismissed and one of those orders was vacated.
Walker -- who's not considered a person of interest by authorities -- also has several felony convictions in Colorado. He was sentenced to probation for criminal impersonation in 2018, but probation was revoked twice and he was re-sentenced in 2019 to one year in prison, where he was given credit for 221 days served.
He was also arrested twice for felony drug possession in El Paso County in 2015, initially sentenced to probation but that was again revoked twice and sentenced to a year in prison.
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office is still seeking the public's help and is asking anyone with information to contact them at 719-390-5555, though anyone who sees Morris or Cole should stay away and call 911.
