‘Vanished’ Denver Policeman Turns Up--Contrite--in Utah

A Denver police officer turned up in Utah after his mysterious disappearance prompted a weeklong manhunt, and he told investigators Friday that financial and personal problems compelled him to abandon his patrol car and head west on a motorcycle.

David Hayhurst, 39, who had gotten a new apartment and a job at an auto-body shop in Reno, Nev., said he decided to return home after reading a newspaper account of the manhunt and deciding: “I couldn’t do this to all those good people in Denver.

‘Just Took Off’

“I just took off. I’m just sorry that I did it,” he told KMGH-TV while en route to Denver, escorted by two police detectives. “I should have got some help somewhere. I didn’t know where else to turn.”

Hayhurst was in uniform when he phoned authorities and his family Thursday night from a convenience store in Salt Lake City.

Capt. Jim Fitzpatrick and Lt. Tom Haney, who were sent to Utah to retrieve Hayhurst, said the officer was using the name Daniel Groves and was posing as an out-of-work auto mechanic.

Hayhurst’s abandoned patrol car was found in southwest Denver early Aug. 18, its motor running, lights on and driver’s door open. Police at first feared that Hayhurst had been abducted, but investigators suspected he may have walked away on his own after they learned his Lakewood home was under foreclosure.

Hayhurst also was scheduled for a court appearance on charges that he had failed to make monthly payments on a motorcycle.

At a news conference Friday, Denver Police Chief Ari Zavaras said of Hayhurst: “He . . . said he was under such pressure that he just couldn’t handle it anymore.”

Zavaras said he has placed Hayhurst on paid administrative leave and ordered him to undergo psychological and physical examinations. He said Hayhurst could be reprimanded or fired after the tests. Hayhurst said he hoped to remain on the force.