The Virgin River is one of two resorts in burgeoning Mesquite, which was a small farming community before casinos became successful at luring drivers off of I-15 just inside the Nevada border. Murphy said police were working on a composite sketch of the gunman, who was believed to have acted alone. Town police were joined by a number of different agencies, including the FBI and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police in investigating the theft in the community of about 4,500 people on Interstate 15 about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas.
Murphy said they managed to flag a passing car about 10 minutes after being released and reported the robbery. Michael Murphy said the employees, a male security guard and a female casino worker, were released about six miles outside Mesquite near Littlefield, Ariz. robbery, and the van was found abandoned a few miles away.Mesquite Police Chief P. The employees were released across the border in a remote area of Arizona a short time after the 10:30 a.m. A gunman commandeered a casino van Thursday and kidnapped two employees before escaping with an undisclosed amount of cash from the Virgin River resort, authorities said.