FBI to follow European leads in disappearance of woman

Kim Smith

Tuesday, March 12, 2002 | 9:41 a.m.

FBI agents and an assistant U.S. attorney may soon go to Europe to try to solve the disappearance of a Boulder City woman more than two years ago.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Damm said he is seeking permission to visit Maria Bozi's mother in Romania and friends in the United Kingdom.

"There's evidence in the U.K. and in Romania, where her mother lives, that we're interested in obtaining," Damm said. "We'd like to talk to Ms. Bozi's mother and find out about the relationship she had with her, when it terminated and why."

They also hope to speak with British friends of both Bozi, 46, and the main suspect in her disappearance -- her husband, David Kent Fitch, who is serving eight years on federal firearms charges, Damm said.

"They'll add background information that supports our notion that Fitch killed her and tried to steal all of her money," Damm said. "Our case doesn't rise and fall on what these witnesses will say, but they will support our theory."

According to court documents, Bozi was reported missing in September 1999 after Citibank tried to contact her in England to ask her about a series of $1,000 withdrawals.

Bozi and Fitch were married in England in April 1999 and moved to the North Shore Trailer Park near Lake Mead shortly thereafter. Authorities say Bozi hasn't been seen or heard from since August 1999.

According to court documents, Fitch married another woman in January 2000 in England, then returned to the United States the next month under the name David Lee Krause.

He came under suspicion in Bozi's disappearance after Henderson Police stopped him for speeding in Bozi's Ford Thunderbird in February 2000.

Fitch, 43, gave police permission to search the vehicle and his two storage units.

Authorities discovered a receipt that showed Fitch had purchased chloroform 23 days after Bozi arrived in the United States. They also found out that Fitch had multiple identities, several instructional books on murder and changing identities, boxes of ammunition, a loaded .44-caliber revolver and other items.

Fitch admitted he had taken money from Bozi's account using her ATM card and while disguised. He also told authorities he cashed a $40,000 check of Bozi's after her disappearance.

He has denied any involvement with his wife's disappearance, however.

Fitch was never charged in connection with Bozi's disappearance, but he pleaded guilty in July 2000 to 10 weapons and fraudulent documents charges.