Father left daughter for dead, sheriff says (Here we go again)

WALLACE – It had been 10 years since John Rollins Tuggle last saw his daughter. She was a toddler and he was headed to prison for raping his teenage sister-in-law.

Last Thursday, July 14, Tuggle left his home in Hayden, Colo., and drove to Athol, Idaho, to see his children, according to his brother.

Tuggle, 37, told his ex-wife he was taking their daughter, now 12, on an outing to the shopping mall.

Instead, he allegedly took her to the Coeur d'Alene Mountains north of Wallace, where he left the girl for dead in the brush off the side of a mountain road, Shoshone County Sheriff Chuck Reynalds said.

The girl was found with multiple stab wounds late Wednesday in the Lost Creek drainage north of Prichard, Idaho. While medical personnel worked to save her life Wednesday night, a manhunt began for Tuggle, who authorities said may be armed with knives and should be considered dangerous. A $10 million warrant was issued for Tuggle on Thursday – an exceptionally high figure, Reynalds said, because of the severity of the crime and Tuggle's criminal history.

Sacred Heart Medical Center officials said they couldn't release information on the girl but Reynalds said she was awake Thursday morning and talking to detectives.

Reynalds said Tuggle called his ex-wife around 11 a.m. to say they were having "a good time." Reynalds said the girl was likely stabbed around 1 p.m. and spent four to five hours bleeding and alone before a family looking for a campsite off Forest Service Road 442 heard her cries.

It's about 80 miles from Athol to the field where the family found the girl, including 29 miles on the paved but curvy Coeur d'Alene River Road.

Reynalds estimates the girl had at least five or six stab wounds. He said she was weak from blood loss when she was found, and unable to walk.

The family drove the girl in their camper to Gloria's Steakhouse in Prichard. Reynalds said authorities were notified when they arrived at the restaurant about 7 p.m. She was airlifted to Kootenai Medical Center and then transferred to Sacred Heart in Spokane.

"Right now she's safe," Reynalds said Thursday afternoon. "She's in good hands. Her mother is with her."

The Spokesman-Review is not identifying the mother, to protect the identity of the victim.

The girl was discovered about 40 yards from the gravel road and not far from several undeveloped but often-used campsites. Crime-scene tape and wrappers from evidence collection swabs marked the scene of Wednesday's crime – a small clearing with hundreds of wild daisies that had been smashed to the ground.

Tuggle was sentenced on March 27, 1995, in Shoshone County District Court for the rape of his then-wife's 14-year-old sister. According to court records, Tuggle raped the teen on at least two separate occasions, in May and June 1994. Tuggle pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months fixed, and seven and a half years indeterminate time in prison for the rape.

He served all his time – nine years total – in the Idaho State Prison, never qualifying for parole.

He was eligible for parole after one year in prison, but the Idaho Parole Board was not convinced that he was a good candidate for parole, said Tracy Shearer, parole board spokesman. Shearer didn't have details on why the parole board made that decision, and it wasn't clear Thursday whether Tuggle appeared before the board again.

The Department of Corrections had few problems with Tuggle, however, writing him up for only minor disciplinary issues, said Teresa Jones, IDOC spokeswoman.

"Anybody could be a good inmate," Shearer said. "That doesn't mean they're a good choice for parole."

When Tuggle was released from prison on Jan. 30, 2004, he was not supervised and only required to register as a sex offender. He immediately moved to Hayden, Colo., near Steamboat Springs, to live with his brother, Chris Tuggle.

According to the Routt County, Colo., Sheriff's Office records, Tuggle had no trouble with the law while living in Hayden and was prompt in registering as a sex offender.

"He was one of them who would come in without having to be reminded or bothered or thrown in jail," said Elise Bennett, Routt County Sheriff's records custodian.

Tuggle found work there as a painter but had not visited his children since leaving prison, said his brother. Chris Tuggle was surprised when his brother abruptly left last week.

"He was supposed to be back Tuesday," Chris Tuggle said by phone Thursday. Chris Tuggle said he didn't know where his brother was and hasn't been able to reach him by cell phone. "I've talked to cops all day."

John Tuggle and the girl's mother were married on Jan. 13, 1993, in Coeur d'Alene, shortly before their daughter was born on Jan. 18, 1993. On Dec. 9, 1993, they had their second child, a boy, according to court records.

Tuggle was arrested in late January of 1995 for the rape of his wife's sister, and the couple separated. While Tuggle was serving time in prison, his wife filed for divorce and was granted full custody of their two children.

An 81-year-old woman who lived next door to the family for five years in Coeur d'Alene recalled the woman mentioning a few years ago that her ex-husband was being released from prison and that she was worried about her kids.

Then a month or two ago, the mother told her neighbor that Tuggle wanted to see the kids, but that the woman's boyfriend had said no.

The beginning of this month, the mother and children moved to a new house, the former neighbor added, but came back to visit the boyfriend every once in a while.

The neighbor described them as a friendly family. The kids used to help her carry groceries, and the son shoveled her snow. "They would have done anything in a moment's notice that I asked them to," the elderly woman said.

The former neighbor started connecting the dots to this incident when she heard on the news that the injured girl's father was from Colorado.

"I kept thinking and thinking, 'Oh my God, I hope it isn't that little girl,' " the neighbor said. "I can't believe how close to home that was."

Tut! Tut! Tut! We must convert him with LOVE, understanding and above all tolerance! More money spent on the courts and prison amenities would have and will prevent, in the future, those 'enclosed ones' from expressing their anger against the "System" when they are released.

I don't know whether to laugh at your satire or cry because some morons actually believe that claptrap.

Your Statement: I don't know whether to laugh at your satire or cry because some morons actually believe that claptrap"

Response: Yes, there are those that believe it, they are legion, and they are in charge!

He was around 23 when they got married less than a week before the daughter's birth. I wonder if the mom was only 14 or 15 at the time herself, and that's why the wedding was delayed. Then they had another baby that same year... that's got to be tough on the mom. This "mom" of a 14 yr old may still be under 30, and still under the spell of the thug that raped her and got her pregnant when she was teenager. Her parents did not protect her or her little sister from him, and she failed to protect her daughter from him, too.

Of course this is just speculation...

That's one sweet-looking rifle. My dad made his own .270 from an old WWII Mauser 98. I got it after he passed on, and it needs to be sighted in as well. The only thing functionally wrong is that the scope gets in the way of the safety lever.

Right now my primary terrorist/criminal defense weapon is my old Remington 870, cut to a usable - and legal - barrel length with an extended mag. As I explain to people that ask about the required plug, "It isn't for game, it's for protection."

The lowly real critter-type maggots serve a useful purpose in this world.

Yep, and I apologize to maggots. I'm always doing that: I once stated that I thought liberals were the way they are because they are to some degree autistic. But I realized after I said it that it was an egregious insult to autistic people.

You're right, though; someone failed this child, and I think every state in the USA needs to pass minimum sentence requirements for subhumans like this. They did so in Florida, and it needs to happen in every state: Minimum 25 (or more) years for the first offense, life for the second, no parole.

We must get these offenders out of society and protect the kids.

Let's try a different tack:

Police are searching for the biological sperm donor, John Rollins Tuggle, (who is NO father) convicted in 1995 for the statutory rape of his sister-in-law. He served nine years in prison and was released in January 2004. He moved to Colorado where he has a brother.

Tuggle is six feet tall, 200 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. He is believed to be driving a red Ford Escort with Colorado license plate number 329-JXG.

Anyone spotting Tuggle outside of his vehicle is encouraged to depress their own accelerator to the floor, line up the maggot with the front of *your* vehicle, and run the sorry sonuvabitch down, then stop. Back up. Repeat as necessary. After the cockroach is exterminated, contact the Shoshone County Sheriff's tip line at (208) 556-1983 to arrange for scraping up the remains, and disposal in the nearest toxic waste dump, after taking an accident report documenting the unexpected malfunction of your accelerator pedal.

That's it. I want burning at the stake re-instituted.

I want this maggot roasted alive over a slow fire and shown on every channel of TV including satellite and cable.

There is no deterrent in a death penalty executed behind brick walls.

I was talking with a friend on the trail the other day about protection. I don't like pistols, because of their inherent inaccuracy. I want a 410, or other small bore shotgun, with a short barrel. My biggest concern is copperheads and rattlesnakes...

I wish I had taken this pic...

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