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VERNAL — Police asked for help Thursday in their search for a man who investigators say cornered his ex-girlfriend at work, put a gun to his own head and threatened to kill himself if she refused to talk with him.
Officers have been looking for Byron Edward McDonald since Monday but have had no luck finding him despite interviewing his friends and acquaintances and visiting places where he's been known to hang out, according to Vernal Police Chief Dylan Rooks.
"We haven't heard anything back from anybody," Rooks said. "We really need the public's help."
About 6 a.m. Monday, McDonald went to a Vernal hotel where his ex-girlfriend works and cornered her alone in the kitchen area, charging documents state.
"(The ex-girlfriend) stated Byron removed a black handgun from his front waistband and placed the gun to his head," the charges state. "(She) stated Byron made the comment that if he couldn't have her, then there was no point living."
The woman told investigators McDonald also pointed the gun at her, but said he wouldn't shoot her because he loved her, the charges state.
Byron told (her) that he was going to kill himself right there in front of her if she didn't talk with him.
–Vernal police wrote
"Byron told (her) that he was going to kill himself right there in front of her if she didn't talk with him," a Vernal police detective wrote, adding that the woman said McDonald ejected the handgun's magazine and showed her it was loaded.
The woman told investigators she didn't believe she could leave the hotel kitchen because McDonald "had a gun and could've easily stopped her." She also told police she thought, "This is it. I'm going to die today," the charges state.
McDonald left the hotel and the woman waited about an hour before calling police. She told officers she didn't summon help sooner because she was afraid McDonald was still watching her.
Officers searched the area, but did not find McDonald. Police put the woman in protective custody and she is receiving services from a victim advocate, Rooks said.
Court records show McDonald and the woman were in a relationship for about 14 years before separating last year. The woman obtained a protective order against McDonald in November 2014 and another woman obtained a civil stalking injunction against him one month later, according to court records.
McDonald, 52, pleaded guilty in March to violation of a stalking injunction, a class B misdemeanor. Court records show he was sentenced to 12 months of probation and ordered to serve 20 days in the Uintah County Jail.
Prosecutors charged McDonald with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and violation of a protective order following Monday's incident at the hotel. A no-bail warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Anyone with information about where McDonald might be is asked to call the Vernal Police Department at 435-789-5835 or Central Dispatch at 435-789-4222.
