For the News-Tribune

KEYSER — The Mineral County Sheriff’s Department apprehended an escaped felon Thursday afternoon after investigation revealed that he had been working at a local car dealership.
According to Sheriff Craig Fraley, the United States Marshal Service out of Martinsburg notified the Sheriff’s Department that Walter Franklin Rich, who was wanted in the state of Montana for escape, was possibly in the Keyser area.
Cpl. R.J. Wingler, Deputy 1st Class Jeremy Taylor, and Deputy Kevin McKone investigated and responded to the dealership south of Keyser at approximately 3 p.m. Thursday, where they were able to apprehend him without incident.
Rich, 30, was originally from Montana and had been convicted of rape. He was on probation and was serving a three-year sentence in the Missoula
Center of the Montana Department of Corrections when he walked off from that facility in November 2000.
Rich also had a misdemeanor conviction in Cherokee, N.C., for possession of a firearm on educational property.
Montana had him listed as a Sexually Violent Predator by t he Flathead County Sheriff’s Office in Montana because of his rape conviction there.
“With the U.S. Marshals and our deputies working together, we were able to take a very dangerous person off the streets today,” Fraley said.
“I am very proud of the job that our deputies put forth in this investigation.”
Fraley said the most disturbing fact that emerged during the investigation was that this person was living in an apartment located very close to a day care center.
Fraley said this was the second time within the last month that the sheriff’s department teamed up with the U.S. Marshal Fugitive Apprehension Service to arrest a fugitive from justice.
On Feb. 23, the department assisted in the apprehension of Eric Floyd, who held a residence on Argyle Street in Keyser. Floyd was arrested in Temple Hills, Md., at another known address, by the U.S. Marshal Service.