A black jacket with the name of a Fort Dodge business on the back has led investigators to issue arrest warrants for two Fort Dodge men wanted in the murder of Uri Sellers.

Ames Police Chief Dennis Ballantine and Story County Attorney Mary Richards announced at a news conference at Ames City Hall Thursday that a warrant for first-degree murder has been issued for Michael Ron Runyan, 20, 1020 1/2 Central Ave., Fort Dodge. A warrant for first-degree aiding and abetting a murder has been issued for Luke Joseph Abrams, 18, 1637 N. 11th Ave., Fort Dodge.

Neither are Iowa State students.

“They were in town for Veishea weekend, down from Fort Dodge,” Ballantine said.

Information leading to the warrants came from police interviews of witnesses, Ballantine said. The key piece of evidence in identifying Runyan was the name “Jensen Builders Ltd.,” that was printed on the back of Runyan’s black jacket. The construction company is located at 2516 S. 7th Ave. in Fort Dodge.

Employees at Jensen Builders declined to comment about whether they know Runyan.

Runyan is accused of stabbing Sellers early Sunday morning.

Ballantine said five Ames police officers and two officers from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation are in Fort Dodge looking for Runyan and Abrams. As of press time, investigators hadn’t tracked down the men. The search for the suspects went nationwide Thursday, when the arrest warrants were sent to the FBI’s National Crime Index Computer.

Originally, police were looking for three men believed to have been involved with the murder, but investigators have narrowed the focus of the investigation to Runyan and Abrams. Both have criminal records, Ballantine said. Neither Ames nor Fort Dodge police would elaborate on Runyan and Abrams’ records.

“At this point in the investigation we have made the charges we feel appropriate,” Richards said. She declined to comment about whether a third suspect was cooperating with police.

Police released composite sketches of Runyan and Abrams Thursday, but most of their information came from witness interviews.

Ballantine said it appears the men were in Ames for Veishea when they got into an altercation with Sellers. Sellers was stabbed with a 5- to 6-inch bladed knife, Ballantine said.

Police have not located the weapon, which they believe Runyan or Abrams dropped as they ran from the scene of the murder in the 300 block of Welch Avenue. The search for the knife has been concentrated in the four-block area between Stanton Avenue and Ash Avenue and between Knapp Street and Lincoln Way. Runyan and Abrams are suspected to have run south on Welch Avenue and then east on Knapp Street after the stabbing occurred.

Police believe Runyan and Abrams then drove back to Fort Dodge. The two are now at large.

Police learned the identity of the suspects as early as Sunday night. The two suspects, Ballantine said, came down Saturday and weren’t planning to spend the night in Ames. Ballantine said he didn’t know if Runyan and Abrams attended Saturday’s Kiss concert.

Runyan is described by those who knew him at Fort Dodge High School as a troublemaker, but someone who could carry on a conversation. Several Iowa State students from Fort Dodge said they knew of both Runyan and Abrams.

Abrams, who classmates said likely didn’t graduate from high school, was also labeled as a troublemaker.

Those who knew him say he was routinely picking fights and was once sent to a juvenile correctional facility. In high school, he was a wrestler.

Abrams was, and may still be, an avid skateboarder. In August of 1991, he and his brother Andy were the subjects of a Fort Dodge Messenger article about skateboarding. “Skating helps your balance and keeps you in shape so you don’t get too fat from Twinkies,” a then 12-year-old Luke Abrams told the Messenger. At one point, Abrams said he wanted to be a professional skateboarder.

Sellers, 19, collapsed on the front lawn of Adelante Fraternity, 318 Welch Ave., after running after the suspects. Sellers was rushed to Mary Greeley Medical Center by ambulance and was pronounced dead at 4:06 a.m. Sunday. Sellers, who is from Monroe, lived in Altoona and attended DMACC.

Case work has been “intensive,” Ballantine said Thursday. Officials conducting witness interviews have been piecing the crime together one “small block after another,” he said.

Police urge anyone who has seen, who knows the suspects or has found the murder weapon to contact the Ames Police Department at 239-5133 or 239-5132. They are also urging Runyan and Abrams to turn themselves in to authorities.

“We want to extend our sincere condolences to the Sellers family. We hope this arrest warrant will bring closure to the incident,” Ballantine said.

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— Staff writers Tim Frerking, Keesia Wirt, Tracy Deutmeyer, Ben Jones and Shuva Rahim contributed to this report.