Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 2, 1993                   TAG: 9312020166
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: From The San Francisco Chronicle, The Associated Press and the Los
DATELINE: UKIAH, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Medium

PAROLED KIDNAPPER HELD AS SUSPECT IN GIRL'S CASE

The girl is still missing.

Police sources said Wednesday night that they have proof Richard Allen Davis was in the home county of the girl, Polly Klaas, just hours after she was abducted from her Petaluma home late Oct. 1.

FBI agents, Petaluma police detectives and Mendocino County sheriff's deputies arrested Davis, 39, Tuesday in a raid on a house where he and others were living as squatters on a tribal reservation about 75 miles from Petaluma.

"This is the prime suspect in this case," said Sgt. Mike Kerns of the Petaluma Police Department. "We're in the process of developing evidence that will link him to Polly's abduction."

So far, police have not charged Davis with anything related to the abduction. He was being held without bail in the Mendocino County Jail for parole violations. He can be held for up to 45 days on those charges.

Davis was convicted in 1985 of kidnap, robbery, first-degree burglary and assault and sentenced to 16 years in prison, said state Department of Corrections spokesman Tip Kindel. Davis was paroled in June.

Police gave few details about what led them to Davis. They stressed that he resembled the man in a sketch drawn of the abductor based on descriptions from two friends who were sleeping over with Polly when the kidnapper took her.

The girls viewed Davis in a lineup Wednesday. Investigators declined to say whether the girls identified Davis as the kidnapper.

Police sources confirmed that a sheriff's deputy helped Davis after he had driven into a ditch several hours after the girl was abducted. "We ran a check on him, and he came up clean," the source said.

Petaluma police declined to confirm or deny reports that they searched that area of Sonoma County, where the girl lived, and may have found clothing Tuesday that could link Davis to her.

The California Highway Patrol arrested Davis on Oct. 19 for driving while intoxicated, said Mendocino County District Attorney Susan Massini. She said he was driving a car matching the description of one seen in Polly's neighborhood shortly before the abduction.

Davis was jailed briefly and released later that day.

Kerns said Polly's fate remains uncertain. He called television reports that her remains may have been found "totally false."