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Tomahawk Police hold press conference on homicide investigation
Monday, March 24, 2008
A suspected robbery turns
into murder in the City of Tomahawk.
At
a Monday afternoon press conference at Tomahawk City Hall, Tomahawk Chief of
Police Don Johnson stated that 25-year-old Rochelle Anderson of Irma was found
murdered on Saturday night outside the Zephyr Fuel gasoline/convenience store
on North Fourth Street where she was a clerk.
Just
after 11:00 pm, a Tomahawk Police Officer became concerned when he saw an
employee’s vehicle parked at the Zephyr Fuel location. He found this unusual, because they
closed at 9:00 pm. The officer
checked the area. He found the
body of Rochelle Anderson outside and just behind the convenience store. A weapon described as “sharp edged” was
used during the murder, although Chief of Police Johnson indicated no official
cause of death has been determined.
More officers from Tomahawk and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department
arrived to secure the scene for crime scene specialists.
Eyewitnesses
at the scene prior to the murder included a 13-year-old Tomahawk girl. She described seeing a suspicious
looking male inside the Zephyr Fuel location just prior to closing time at 8:45
pm. The male was described as
being approximately 5’10” with a thin build, wearing dark colored
clothing. The suspect was seen
leaving on foot north on North Fourth Street. A suspicious vehicle observed by a witness in the area was
described as gold or tan in color.
Chief Johnson said that they were not ruling out the possibility of more
than one suspect.
Zephyr Fuel does have video surveillance
cameras. Johnson refused to
indicate whether they contained any valuable leads. He noted that there had been a recent burglary at the same
location, but did not elaborate on whether there was any evidence of a
tie-in. What was stolen Saturday
night was not released. He did say
that the investigation is ongoing and Tomahawk Police, with the assistance of
Lincoln County Authorities, special agents from the Wisconsin Department
Division of Criminal Justice and other agencies including search dogs from
Plover are pursuing numerous leads.
Chief Johnson, along with the victim’s father Randy Anderson Sr., pleaded that anyone with information please come forward. After Monday’s press conference, City of Tomahawk Mayor Bob Lee stated that Chief Johnson would be afforded all of the manpower and resources necessary to find the person or persons who murdered Rochelle Anderson.
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