Published May 14, 2007 10:15 pm - The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms will join the Darcy Manor murder investigation.
Search continues for murdered man's truck
By SUZANNE MOORE
Staff Writer
MOOERS -- Police are scaling back the local ground search for evidence in the Darcy Manor murder case.
"I think we've exhausted all practical leads in the immediate vicinity," State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation Capt. Robert LaFountain said Monday afternoon.
That, however, doesn't rule out the possibility that Manor, whose body was found early Friday at a Drown Road camp owned by Martin Lavin, was killed by local individuals, he added.
And it doesn't mean Manor's 1992 pickup truck, missing since sometime Thursday evening, is necessarily miles away.
"It could still be in the area but secreted," he said.
Locally, police continue to watch for the vehicle and respond to sightings. Trucks that meet the description of Manor's have been pulled over and then sent on their way, said State Police Troop B Commander Maj. Richard Smith.
At the request of Manor's family, he adjusted the description of the Ford pickup a bit.
"They described it as ... predominantly green," he said. "Perhaps not as bright as people associate with teal."
Information about the pickup has been circulated via computerized teletype to every law-enforcement agency in the United States and Canada, LaFountain said.
And Tuesday, the many agencies working on the case -- including New York State Department of Conservation Police -- will be joined by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which will bring specialized resources to assist in the search for Manor's killer or killers.
LaFountain praised the efforts of all participating agencies and said the investigation was continuing in high gear, with about 30 BCI and uniformed officers working out of the command center at Mooers Fire Station.
"There are others running down leads in other areas," he said.
As of Monday afternoon, 251 leads had been reported, 79 of those in the past 24 hours or so.
"And they continue to come in," Smith said.
No suspects had been narrowed down, however, and police released no further detail about the high-powered rifle missing from the camp except to again caution the public that there is a murderer or murderers on the loose who may be armed and are dangerous.