Eden Prairie police say foul play is suspected in the July death of a 74-year-old Eden Prairie man discovered in his home one day before his abandoned van was found in Utah.
Police were called the afternoon of July 22 for a welfare check at Allen Alvin Retzer's home in the 7900 block of South Bay Curve near Mitchell Lake, where they found him dead.
Police found Retzer's minivan missing and a landline phone pulled and severed from the wall; his cellphone also showed no incoming calls since July 19, according to a search warrant filed last month in Salt Lake County.
An autopsy by the Hennepin County medical examiner's office revealed multiple sharp-force injuries consistent with a homicide.
On July 24, Eden Prairie police learned a Chrysler Town and Country minivan belonging to Retzer had been abandoned in Draper, Utah, with the license plate replaced with one from another car in Retzer's garage, according to the search warrant. It was impounded by the Utah State Patrol. Eden Prairie investigators traveled there and worked with the Utah Department of Public Safety State Bureau of Investigation to collect evidence from the vehicle and return it to Minnesota.
Police said they're currently pursuing a person of interest, adding that they believe the incident isn't random and there's no public threat.
Retzer owned a drywall company, according to records. The police department said there were no prior calls to the home.
His death is the third investigation involving a homicide in the west metro suburb this year. In May, a 30-year-old man fatally stabbed his pregnant wife, and a heroin dealer was charged with a homicide in a heroin overdose.