Special to The Denver Post
By Mark H. Hunter

MONTE VISTA - A case of a young Monte Vista woman missing since early January has turned into a nightmare for her parents, a nationwide search for her and a local controversy.

Danice Day is 19 years old, has long blond hair, large blue eyes, pierced ears and a pierced left eyebrow. The single mother of a 3-year-old boy and a 10-month-old girl hasn't been seen since she left her waitress job at Dos Rios Restaurante on Jan. 9 and went to her boyfriend's rural ranch, according to reports.

Day was living with Victor Braun, father of the baby girl, according to her friends. Rio Grande County Undersheriff Charles Martinez said Victor and his father, Vernon Braun, are considered suspects in her disappearance.

"Victor was the last person seen with her," Martinez said. "Victor said she left his residence with a friend but nobody knows who the friend was. An argument ensued because she was going out with someone he didn't know."

Day's car, keys, wallet, cellphone and clothing were all recovered at the Braun residence, according to her father, Rod Day, who reported her missing Jan. 12.

"Each day we wonder whether we will be able to see her, or be able to love and hold her again," Rod Day said in a written statement. "The terror we feel each night - that the next day will only bring another day of not knowing and the possible reality that we will never see her again."

Rod Day and his wife, Judy, are caring for the son and the baby is with her father.

Martinez said that since Jan. 12, deputies have called in the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, posted Day's picture on several "missing person" Web pages and law enforcement databases, searched the Braun ranch, scoured nearby foothills on horseback, and even asked two psychics and a Native American shaman for help. Many San Luis Valley businesses have posted her photo on doorways and local newspapers have published articles about her disappearance.

"I can't picture her leaving her children," said Pam Bricker, one of Day's former teachers at the Byron Syring Delta Center, a Monte Vista alternative school from which Day graduated in May 2000. "This has been very distressing for all of us. She is a sweet bubbly girl and very, very smart."

The Brauns are acquaintances of Rio Grande County Sheriff Desi Medina, a relationship that is "a potential conflict," according to District Attorney Peter Comar of the 12th Judicial District, and cause for "taking over this investigation," according to a March 21 letter from Comar to Medina. Comar officially took over the case last week.

"We would ask that any individual who feels they have information regarding the disappearance of Danice Day call 719-589-3715," Comar said. "Please do not call the Rio Grande County Sheriff's Office as they have no further involvement in this matter."

Comar's decision was provoked by comments Medina made to the Rio Grande County board of commissioners last month.

"Danice went to her and Victor's residence and Vern and Victor were in another room and Danice came in and told Victor that she was going to leave him," Medina said, according to the meeting minutes. "Victor got up to hit Danice and she moved and he hit her in the esophagus, which killed her."

"We were shocked with his comments about how she was killed," said Vern Rominger, commission chair. "If they know all this, why hasn't something been done?"

Medina now claims his statements were "off the record," although it was a public meeting.

He denied showing any favoritism to the Brauns, and said he turned the case over to Martinez in January to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. He pledged cooperation with Comar.

"I'm friends with everybody," Medina said. "Victor and Vern have been underdogs, but I treat everybody the same."

Attempts to contact the Brauns were unsuccessful and they have not made any public statements about Day's disappearance.

Anyone with information is asked to call the District Attorney's Office or San Luis Valley Crimestoppers at 719-589-4111 to collect a possible $1,000 reward.