Breaking: Arrest made in 25-year-old murder cold case

NATURITA, Colo. ( KREX ) – A 68-year-old Naturita man was arrested Thursday for first-degree murder for the 1999 disappearance of then 42-year-old Dale Williams , the Colorado Bureau of Investigation announced.

Naturita resident Dan Bishop was taken into custody and booked into the Montrose County Detention Center.

“There have been countless interviews and hundreds of hours of investigation poured into this case,” Montrose County Sheriff Gene Lillard said in a press release. “It has taken an entire team effort of law enforcement, family and concerned citizens to bring the case to where it is at today. We are grateful for the in-depth investigation over the last 25 years by the agents of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and investigators and deputies of the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office.”

CBI – with help from the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office – opened a new inquiry in September 2023 after previous investigations into the case ended with no arrests.

Williams owned an auto body shop in Nucla at the time of his disappearance. According to CBI, Williams and his wife reportedly helped Bishop’s spouse leave her then-husband and relocate to Texas.

Williams was last seen on May 27, 1999, after he got a call about helping a stranded motorist near Bedrock. His truck was found about six weeks later submerged at the confluence of the Dolores and San Miguel rivers.

CBI said investigators found a rifle in the bed of the truck with a spent shell casing in the chamber. Records showed the rifle allegedly belonged to Bishop.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation said it believes Bishop acted with his now-deceased cousin to murder Williams.

Bishop is being held on a $1 million cash-only bond. A court date has yet been set.

The sheriff’s office said in the release it “is grateful to the investigators, the community, and the Williams family for their tireless efforts to begin the closure process for a case that has affected us all.”

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