S.D. ‘most wanted’ list

Talk about it

More...

• Fugitive Investigations

MITCHELL, S.D. - After more than 10 months on the run, Daniel Lee Norman has earned a spot as one of South Dakota’s most highly sought criminals, and for good reason. The drug-trafficking, firearm-toting money launderer has been eluding law enforcement since his escape last spring from the federal prison camp in Yankton.

The U.S. Marshals Service has been actively searching for the 52-year-old and several others the agency has identified as South Dakota’s most wanted felons, a list of criminals that one marshal says profiles the “worst of the worst.”

Both the U.S. Marshals Service and South Dakota Department of Corrections post profiles of wanted felons on their Web sites. Many haven’t been seen or heard from in years.

Warren Anderson, U.S. Marshal for the District of South Dakota, said the main criteria in determining which fugitives make the U.S. Marshals Service’s list is relatively simple:

- How dangerous is the person?

- And, how badly do authorities want the fugitive off the streets?

“It mostly has to do with the crimes and what they’ve done,” said Anderson, who works out of the federal courthouse in Sioux Falls. “You’re always going to put up the worst of the worst.”

Getting the fugitives’ faces before the public is the problem. Agencies post pictures of most-wanted fugitives — as well as their various offenses and a criminal biography — online, but generally, even the most highly sought fugitives remain virtually unknown or unrecognizable to the average bystander.

The photos seen posted in federal court houses highlight the 15 most wanted fugitives nationwide, but “in South Dakota, we haven’t ever had anybody that high-level,” Anderson said.

Some “most wanted” lists trickle down to smaller law enforcement agencies. Several police stations and sheriff’s offices across South Dakota identify their most wanted criminals, too, including the counties of Brown, Hughes, Minnehaha, Pennington, Union, Walworth and Yankton.

Neither the Mitchell Police Division nor the Davison County Sheriff’s Office keeps such a list.

“We don’t have anything here just because we haven’t developed it that far yet,” said Don Radel, Davison County jail administrator. “Could it help? Possibly. It appears some other agencies are having some success because they continue to use them.”

Radel said Davison County has many other systems of alert when it comes to criminals, however, such as State Cases, a statewide teletype system to communicate wanted people, stolen property, burglaries and the like. In some cases, a public notice may be issued, such as when a prisoner fails to return from a furlough or job search and he or she cannot be located after several hours.

The decision of whether or not to create a “most wanted” list, Radel said, is up to a county’s sheriff and state’s attorney.

Still, there seems to be no lack of everyday, would-be crimestoppers eager to help out. According to Anderson, tips and call-ins to his office are fairly frequent.

Eight fugitives are currently top priority with the Department of Corrections and U.S. Marshals Service of South Dakota. In each case, a warrant has been issued for the criminal’s arrest, and authorities are seeking information as to the offender’s whereabouts.

The lists feature few violent criminals, and no sex offenders. Several are prison escapees sought by the Department of Corrections. Others are wanted for drug-related felonies, burglary or charges related to firearms.

Anyone with information should call the USMS office in Sioux Falls at 605-330-4351, the USMS headquarters at 1-877-WANTED2, the South Dakota Department of Corrections at 605-773-3478, or local law enforcement.

Here’s a look at South Dakota’s most wanted offenders:

- Karrn Albertovich Atayants, 33, a native of Russia, is wanted for failing to appear for sentencing on charges of interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle, mail fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. Atayants has prior convictions of narcotics and false impersonations. He was arrested by the Sioux Falls office of the U.S. Marshal Service in 2000.

- Donald Ray Butler, 36, is wanted for supervised release violation. He has prior domestic violence assaults and convictions. Originally from Texas, Butler has prior addresses in South Dakota, North Dakota and Washington.

- Eugene Clifford, 25, has been on the run since his failure to return to the Rapid City Minimum Unit in October 2007. Clifford was being held on charges of grand theft and receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle. He has numerous tattoos on his fingers, right hand, arm, chest, stomach and lower leg. He is of American Indian descent and is originally from Denver. He was taken into custody in Pennington County in 2006.

- Steven Charles Durant, 50, is wanted for escape from a halfway house after arrests for possession of a firearm as a felon, carrying a concealed weapon, armed robbery and possession of and selling a machine gun. Durant may be American Indian. He is considered armed and dangerous.

- Clifford LaFramboise, 40, escaped from the South Dakota State Penitentiary in 1994 after serving six years for multiple counts of first-degree and third-degree burglary. He is American Indian and has at least five tattoos: a ribbon with writing on his right arm, a cross on his left arm, the word “hope” on his left arm, a heart on his left wrist, and the initials “S.F.” on his left hand. LaFramboise was born in Winnipeg, Canada.

- Michael McAfee, 57, is wanted by the South Dakota Department of Corrections for prison escape. McAfee was sentenced to 10 years for grand theft. In 1999, he escaped from West Farm, a residential treatment program on a farm outside Sioux Falls owned by the state of South Dakota. McAfee is 6-foot-3 with red hair and green eyes. His hometown is Austin, Texas.

- Daniel Lee Norman, 52, is wanted for manufacturing methamphetamines, possessing firearms as a felon and money laundering. A warrant was issued for his arrest last July after Norman’s escape from a prison in Yankton. Norman has 15 years remaining on a 30-year sentence out of Washington, his home state.

- Rosendo Deleon Saiz, 59, is wanted for conspiracy and distribution of 10 to 20 pounds of methamphetamines. A warrant was issued for Saiz’s arrest in October 2003. Originally from Texas, Saiz lived around Belle Fourche for more than 30 years and is considered armed and dangerous.

Tags: state and region, south dakota, crime, mitchell, danielnorman, daniel, norman, daily updates