Wisconsin manhunt on for kidnap suspect

WAUSAU, Wisconsin (CNN) -- Law enforcement officers across Wisconsin were searching Tuesday for a man believed responsible for the abduction of a missing woman now feared dead and the attempted kidnapping of another woman in broad daylight Monday.

Dale Milton Robinson, 29, is wanted on a warrant for felony theft and kidnapping in the July 14 disappearance of Deanna Zuleger-Scantlin, 34, who vanished after closing up the Wausau bar where she worked.

Based on evidence found by investigators, authorities are now treating her disappearance as a homicide, said Capt. Diane Krebsbach of the Marathon County Sheriff's Department.

On Monday a woman driving in a van on a rural road in Washburn County, about 175 miles northwest of Wausau, was rammed from behind by a man believed to be Robinson, Krebsbach said.

When he was unsuccessful at trying to get into her vehicle, he broke a window with his fist and tried to pull her through, fleeing when a delivery truck approached, Krebsbach said.

"We really feel that if we don't locate and apprehend him, we're going to have more victims," she said. "We feel that it is imperative that we find him."

More than 200 officers from four counties were searching for Robinson and any trace of Zuleger-Scantlin.

Based on his movements to the northwest, authorities believe he may be headed toward the Duluth, Minnesota, area or Canada, and border agents have been alerted.

Investigators also issued a nationwide alert and talked to the FBI about possible assistance in the case, although the bureau is not yet officially involved, Krebsbach said.

Zuleger-Scantlin's personal effects were found during a search of Robinson's home in Antigo, about 35 miles from Wausau, Krebsbach said.

Robinson is described as a white male, 6 feet 9 inches tall, weighing 260 to 300 pounds, with short blonde hair and hazel eyes.

Just a month before Zuleger-Scantlin's disappearance, he was released from prison after serving a sentence for burglary, Krebsbach said.

Zuleger-Scantlin is described as 5 feet 8 inches tall with brown shoulder-length hair with blonde highlights. She was last seen wearing tan or khaki shorts and a two-tone blue top with horizontal stripes.