Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 20, 1993 TAG: 9305200319
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Members of several law enforcement agencies scoured the woods near Walker Mountain with explosive-sniffing dogs, looking for dynamite they suspected may have been left by Willie Lon Rice II, who was arrested Friday night, said Lt. Keith Dunagan of the Wythe County Sheriff's Department.
Rice, of Wytheville, had been sought for a month on charges of breaking and entering and grand larceny, and an unrelated charge of raping a 16-year-old girl. Authorities say he faked his own drowning last month.
Rice had a 9-millimeter pistol when he was arrested, after which authorities searched his campsite, about two miles from a campground off Virginia 717. There, Dunagan said, they found 22 sticks of dynamite, blasting caps, and eight to 10 other guns.
They also found a letter suggesting that Rice believed it was inevitable that authorities would find him and that he "was going to fight it out," Dunagan said.
After being arrested, Rice refused to tell authorities where he may have hidden more dynamite, guns or money. But on Wednesday, he began claiming that he had planted explosives in the woods.
Rice accompanied authorities in their search during the rain Wednesday, pointing out places where he claimed to have buried dynamite. Nothing was found.
Authorities suspect that additional explosives and weapons may be in the hands of an accomplice, and Dunagan suggested that Rice may be telling a tale just to get his name in the news.
"He likes the press," Dunagan said.
How Rice obtained the dynamite is under investigation, Dunagan said. He expects more charges to be placed.
Dunagan roughly estimated the size of the cordoned-off section of forest at four to five square miles. It is bordered by Virginia 717, U.S. 52, the Bland County line and Interstate 77.
It will remain closed until declared safe.
"The fact that he had that stuff, you have to give him a little bit more credibility," Dunagan said.
by CNB