Missing Lakewood Man's Roommate Has Criminal Record
LAKEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4) - The search continues for David Noren, 45, who was last seen on May 19 at his frequent hang out, a bar on West Colfax Avenue, and police suspect foul play.
Noren's roommate, Ryan Boyd Hicks, has a criminal record. A friend of Noren's says Hicks lived with Noren for about two months. According an arrest record, Hicks was charged with attempted murder in Wheat Ridge in 2005, but pled guilty to second degree assault and was sentenced to prison for 6 years.
"Dave never mentioned any conflicts with his roommate," Noren's employer Mike Matchinsky said.
Hicks was arrested for an unrelated incident in Arizona on May 27 and Lakewood police are checking to see if he was involved in the disappearance.
Matchinsky told CBS4 when Noren failed to come to work his business partner went to his house and found Hicks' behavior to be a little odd.
"It just didn't seem like there was a whole lot of urgency, like, 'Hey, this guy's missing, his dog's here, he left me with the dog, we should be looking for him,' " Matchinsky said.
But if Hicks wasn't showing any concern, the Lakewood police found Noren's disappearance to be alarming.
"He would never just not show up for work without calling," Steve Davis with Lakewood police said.
Police looked inside Noren's home and say there were signs of a struggle.
"There was forensic evidence that indicates Mr. Noren was probably the victim of foul play and most likely suffered some pretty severe injuries," Davis said.
Lakewood police tracked Hicks to Arizona were detectives spent a few days talking to him in the Graham County Jail.
"We have not cleared him of any involvement of this disappearance of Mr. Noren," Davis said.
Matchinsky said Noren is more than an employee, he's a friend of 23 years.
"We're going to miss him, you know wherever he disappeared to. It's not right, whatever is going on is not right," he said.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that Hicks would be extradited to Colorado, which is not the case.
