Tourist From Denver Murdered in Northwest DC

Victim IDed as Gary Dederichs, 66, of Denver

D.C. police are investigating the murder of a man who was visiting from out of town.

Gary Dederichs, 66, was found in an alley in the 800 block of Emerson Street NW at 6 p.m. Tuesday, with severe head trauma. He had been beaten and was later pronounced dead.

Dederichs, a nurse from Denver, rented a room in the Petworth area to spend a two-week vacation seeing the sights of Washington.  He used a website to find lodging in the area not far from where he was found.

Investigators believe he died in the alley where he was found. Davon Hudson was one of the first on the scene.

"They laid his head on a fanny pack.... I thought somebody cared about him," he said.

With help from the fire department, investigators climbed to neighborhood rooftops Wednesday, searching for a possible murder weapon or other evidence.

They also brought in trained dogs to look for clues, and deployed detectives across the neighborhood to leave flyers in mailboxes.

"It's terrible, and I'm sorry it happened," a resident said. "And I'm sorry it happened in my neighborhood, because we have never had this happen."

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at (202) 727-9099 or submit a tip anonymously by text-messaging 50411.

"I cannot remember the last case that we had... where any tourist was the victim of a homicide in Washington," said a spokeman for D.C. police.

Police officials have not ruled out a robbery as a possible motive.

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