Kevin Duck, the man being sought on a first degree murder charge in the Dec. 2011 death of his girlfriend, Hot Springs Village police dispatcher Dawna Natzke, was taken into custody last night near Burlington, Colorado. Garland County prosecutors had charged Duck with first degree murder on Monday.
Duck was the last person seen with Natzke as they left a holiday party in Hot Springs Village on Dec. 21, 2011. Her body was found Dec. 31, 2011 by volunteer searchers in the edge of a pond near Jessieville, after her car was discovered burned to the hubs in a remote area of the Ouachita National Forest. Duck told investigators that after leaving the party, he and Natzke had gone home, and he had gone to bed, leaving her awake watching television. When he awoke, Duck told investigators, she was missing. We published a cover story on the case back in June.
According to the arrest affidavit issued for Duck, an autopsy found that Natzke died of drowning after blunt force trauma. Cell phone records analyzed by the FBI play heavily in the affidavit, including what prosecutors say is a call made from Duck’s phone at 8:34 a.m. the morning Natzke disappeared that originated around a half-mile from where her body was found. Prosecutors say that call was followed by another call 30 minutes later that originated near where Natzke’s car was burned.