'Ms. Puppy' Is Arrested In Palm Springs In Connection With Denver Double Homicide

A person of interest in a Denver double homicide was arrested just before 10 last night at a Palm Springs, Calif. bar.

Daryl Rasmussen, 55, reportedly goes by the name "Ms. Puppy" when he cross-dresses and may have been the last person to see Denver gay couple Ramiro “Rome” Sanchez II, 55, and Ronald Thomas Ford, 63 alive, the Desert Sun reports. According to the Denver Coroner, both men died from blunt-force trauma to the head. Sanchez's body was found in the basement of the home in February, but his partner's wasn't found until a week later because it had been concealed under bags and storage items in the basement.

Ford and Sanchez had formerly operated an upscale Mexican restaurant and catering service in Denver called La Fabula Grill and Cantina, according to the Denver Post.

Denver Police say that the couple took Rasmussen into their home approximately three months before they were found, because he was homeless.

"It wasn't surprising that they'd help somebody in need, it was surprising that we didn't know. We had not heard of this person," Sanchez's sister Angie Mingus told 7News. "From what we hear he was a cross dresser. He was looking to get an operation is what we're hearing so he's in transition."

An observant Palm Springs resident recognized Rasmussen at a local bar called "Score" after seeing news coverage on TV and alerted police. The Desert Sun reports that Rasmussen reportedly gave Palm Springs Police another man's driver's license, but was positively ID'd anyway. Denver Police had been looking for Rasmussen since February.

He is being held at Riverside County Jail on two outstanding warrants of parole violation in Texas and probation violation in Georgia.