There was excitement in Grundy County over the weekend as a stolen law enforcement vehicle was found east of Trenton, leading to a manhunt for the person responsible.
According to Grundy County Sheriff Rodney Herring, the manhunt began after local residents noticed a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado truck abandoned on Highway Y, a quarter mile north of Highway 6. The vehicle was fully marked as a vehicle from the Jefferson County, NE Sheriff’s Department in Fairbury, NE. Sheriff Herring contacted Jefferson County authorities, who were unaware that the vehicle was missing. They were able to use video to get a description of the man who was seen taking the truck Friday evening and after checking local bars, identified him as Bird Roy Nightwalker, a 39-year-old resident of Clinton, OK.
In the meantime, Grundy County authorities launched a search for the suspect, whom Sheriff Herring said has an extensive, violent criminal history. The Trenton Police Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol assisted the GCSD in the search. Nightwalker had been seen walking into Trenton around 8:30 a.m. and was later found to have been at the BP Station on Ninth Street. Using technology that could locate Nightwalker’s cell phone, law enforcement officers searched an area near Wright Memorial Hospital. Multiple reports of sightings were coming in from various areas of the county, including on Highway 146.
Finally, updated and more specific cell phone data led officers to believe that Nightwalker was in the area of 19th and Lulu streets, however, as officers were preparing to go to that location, Nightwalker was found near the Grundy County Law Enforcement Center walking toward the LEC, apparently having been let out of a vehicle at Trenton Main Stop. The vehicle was driven by an acquaintance from Trenton, whom Herring said is not facing charges in the incident. Nightwalker was apparently planning to turn himself in to law enforcement and was taken into custody without incident.
Sheriff Herring said Nightwalker has been charged in Grundy County with first degree tampering with a motor vehicle, however those charges will likely be dismissed as he is facing far more serious charges in connection with the incident in Nebraska, where he will be returned. Sheriff Herring said plans were being made Monday for Jefferson County authorities to come to Grundy County to retrieve the vehicle and Nightwalker. The vehicle, which Nightwalker had abandoned when it ran out of gas, sustained only minor damage during the time it was in Nightwalker’s possession as it appeared he might have sideswiped another vehicle or an object.
The GCSD used its mobile app during the search to alert citizens of the situation and to seek help from the public in locating Nightwalker.
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