Marshals seek help in locating dangerous fugitive

The U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force is asking for the public's help in locating a man wanted for murder in Texas.

Convicted killer Dennis Ray Anderson, 64, is said to be traveling in the Pensacola area.

Police and U.S. Marshals in Houston, Texas, began searching for Anderson after a tip lead them to a body stuffed in a barrel at his Houston-area home.  Authorities believe Anderson fled the Lake Charles, La., area Sunday night and took a Greyhound bus to Pensacola.  He was scheduled to arrive in Pensacola Monday morning.

Anderson is a white male, approximately 6 feet tall, weighing about 230 pounds with blue eyes; he has receding white hair and may or may not wear glasses. He was last seen wearing a grey short sleeve button up shirt, blue jeans, tan work boots and a black NASCAR cap with yellow stripes/flames on it. Anderson was also reportedly carrying a small black/brown leather bag and a “six pack” blue and white cooler. It is believed that Anderson has no connections to the Pensacola area and was actually headed for Ft. Lauderdale or Boston, Mass. It is also believed that he has no money and will be on foot looking for a place to stay or food.

Investigators have developed information that Anderson may be in possession of a gun and is to be considered armed and dangerous. Anderson should not be approached by the public.

Anderson had been sentenced to life in prison for the 1972 slayings of a woman and her 3-year-old granddaughter during an antique shop robbery. In 1973, he was also convicted in Hardin County, Texas, of arson, for which he was sentenced to 20 years in prison and a theft, for which he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Anderson was paroled in 1989 and ordered to remain on parole supervision for life. Last February, Anderson was charged in Harris County with robbery causing bodily injury after he was accused of choking a woman and threatening to kill her.

If anyone has information on Anderson’s whereabouts, they are asked to immediately contact the U.S. Marshal’s Task Force investigators at (850) 776-3019 or (850) 554-6602 or the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's office at (850) 983-1100.