Kidnapping

U.S. Marshals catch a man accused of holding 3 people hostage earlier this month.  Christopher Fragoso was arrested Wednesday at a Springfield convenience store on a warrant of 3 counts of kidnapping.  Police say Fragoso held two women and a man at gunpoint in a home on south Brekleyn Avenue.  They weren't hurt.  Another man was arrested earlier for the kidnapping.

A Springfield man has been charged with eight felonies after allegedly kidnapping his estranged wife. Police say Saturday night, Paul A. Williams entered a home on the 2200 block of North Main where his wife was visiting.  Court documents say Williams pulled a gun and warned he shoot everyone in the house if the woman would not go with him to talk.  Paperwork shows he fired a round hitting the living room television. Williams took the woman to the Shrine Mosque where he worked to talk about their relationship.  Police say she convinced Williams to turn himself in. He's being held on a $250,000 bond.  Along with kidnapping, Williams is charged with armed and criminal action, a felon in pocession of a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon, restraint, robbery and burglary.

HERMITAGE, Mo. -- A man accused of trying to kidnap three children in Wheatland last week now faces another charge.  The Hickory County prosecuting attorney charged Richard Gibisas of Overland Park, Kan., with possession of child pornography. Gibisas, 55, was in his company van when he parked near a yard where several children were playing outside, two blocks off U.S. 54 in a residential area of Wheatland.  Three girls told police that he drove up to them and said, "I'm going to get you. "  They ran to their parents, who called law enforcement officers.

BOLIVAR, Mo. -- A man from Pleasant Hope is charged with kidnapping and raping a relative.  The Polk County sheriff says investigators believe James McElwee pushed the teenage girl into an abandoned house and raped her last Jan. 22.  A judge set McElwee's bond at $100,000.

LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. -- Investigators say William Barger, Lonnie Swarnes and Douglas Strangeland drove to New Jersey in 2010 to kidnap a man named Jeffrey Muller.  But, they ended up targeting the wrong guy with the same name. The victim was able to escape when the kidnapper's car broke down at Lake of the Ozarks.  Two other men, Andrew Wadel and Roy Slates have already pleaded guilty to their roles in the abduction.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Greene County prosecutors charged Lindsey Kleber on Friday with assaulting and kidnapping her ex-husband on Thursday night outside a dormitory at Baptist Bible College.  Witnesses told police that Kleber plowed her car into Steven Kleber's car, shot him, forced him into her car and sped away before being arrested a mile away. Online court records show the couple's divorce was finalized in Kansas City on Sept. 27, two months after Lindsey Kleber filed for divorce, and seven weeks after Steven Kleber was charged with shaking their 7-month-old daughter in June.

JACKSON, Mo. -- A thirty-nine year old man is accused of kidnapping his own children has a preliminary hearing set for next month. Scott Pikey from Jackson, Missouri is charged with felony child abduction.  He allegedly took his children from a domestic violence shelter in Ozark last summer.  Police say Pikey waited for a car to drive through the shelter's gate and followed it onto the property.  Court documents say Pikey took the children while...

HERMITAGE, Mo. -- The case of a man from the Kansas City area who is accused of trying to kidnap three children is headed for trial court.  After a preliminary hearing that covered parts of two afternoons, a Hickory County associate circuit judge said there is sufficient evidence for Richard Gibisas' case to go to circuit court. Gibisas, who lives in Overland Park, Kan., is accused of approaching three girls who were playing outside in a yard in Wheatland and telling them that he was going to "get them.

DIAMOND, Mo. - The Newton County Sheriff's Department is looking for a woman who may have been kidnapped by a man near this town.  The possible crime was reported at roughly 9:30 Monday night at a home on Highway J.  Investigators say they're looking for John Carl, 40, and Cindy Reynolds, 51. Reynolds is described as about 5-foot-3 and 175 pounds.  The sheriff said early Tuesday that it wasn't clear whether the man and woman know each other. ...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- City police assigned an investigator to a report that a woman may have been kidnapped and taken to Texas.  The report on Tuesday night was filed by Bryce Gilliland, who thinks his sister, Kendra Gilliland, may be held against her will. A friend of Kendra received a photo on her cell phone and a voicemail message that said she was being held for $5,000 ransom and “may possibly” be in Texas. Kendra Gilliland is 35 years old, and is described as about 5-foot-5 and very thin (maybe 100 - 110 pounds)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A kidnapping note scribbled on a paper towel caught the attention of a woman from Springfield at a convenience store on Saturday night.  The note said, "The man I'm with has kidnapped, raped, and is threatening to kill me. "  Scribbled on a paper towel lying on the counter at the Kum & Go on Sunshine Street at Ingram Mill Road, it caught the attention of a customer named Jessica, who says she immediately called 911.  ...

OZARK, Mo. -- It was reported over the weekend as an attempted kidnapping, but now Ozark police say it was just a misunderstanding after a man apparently lost his dog.  Police say a driver approached two 14-year-old girls when they were walking around in their neighborhood on Friday evening.  The first report was that he told them to get into his van, but police now say he was just wanting to talk to them about the dog. Friday's incident was...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- City police are investigating a report by a woman who says she was brought to Springfield against her will and raped repeatedly.  The investigation started after the woman left a crumpled-up note at the checkout counter of a Kum & Go store on East Sunshine Street near U.S. 65 on Saturday night. The woman was in the store with a man.  She wrote the note on a paper towel from a bathroom dispenser.  She said her attacker is a man whom she has known for several years.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Springfield Police reported late Saturday night that missing baby Harmony Blue was found safely.  She was still sitting in the car that was stolen.  The thief dumped the car with little Harmony still in it.  Police say the baby was found in the father's car near Campbell Avenue at Mt. Vernon Street around 10 p.m. The 1-year-old girl disappeared around 1:30 p.m. in north Springfield outside Save-a-Lot grocery store on Commercial...

ROLLA, Mo. -- A man from Newburg was charged this week with killing a woman in Florida 15 years ago.  Investigators say DNA evidence led to charges of capital murder and kidnapping against Harry Leach, 52.  Detectives believe Leach went to the murder victim's home as a repairman before the murder. Someone killed Pluma Sanford, 73, at her home in Fort Walton Beach on Aug. 15, 1997.  No one was charged until this week, and it happened because of advances in technology. On Jan. 23, 2012, a Phelps County sheriff's deputy arrested Leach after a domestic assault involving a weapon.  That led to Leach being placed on probation.   Last October, a DNA sample was taken from Leach to comply with a recently-passed Missouri law mandating DNA samples be submitted on everyone arrested for felonies.  All DNA samples obtained by law enforcement agencies are entered into the Combined DNA Indexing System (CODIS)

FORSYTH, Mo. -- Two men accused of kidnapping and murdering a couple from the Willard area were scheduled to be in court on Thursday morning.  Tony Friend and Dusty Hicks both seek to have their cases moved out of Taney County because extensive publicity about their case. Rusty and Rebecca Porter vanished from their house in April 2011. Their bodies were found in a remote area near Protem three months later. Tony Friend's son, Phillip, is also charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the case.  His next court appearance is scheduled for February.  

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A Greene County man who police say admitted to killing a Springfield woman and burning her body earlier this year is due in court today. Prosecutors charged Jay Rothe with murder and kidnapping in connection with the death of Linda Riley, who went missing in February. Riley's body was found a week later near Stockton Lake. According to police documents, Rothe said he was jealous of the people Riley spent time with. When Rothe confronted Riley at her home in north Springfield, the argument turned violent.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A Greene County man who police say admitted to killing a Springfield woman and burning her body earlier this year is due in court today. Prosecutors charged Jay Rothe with murder and kidnapping in connection with the death of Linda Riley, who went missing in February. Riley's body was found a week later near Stockton Lake. According to police documents, Rothe said he was jealous of the people Riley spent time with. When Rothe confronted Riley at her home in north Springfield, the argument turned violent.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man from Springfield received a 25-year prison sentence on Friday for kidnapping his ex-wife at gunpoint on July 2, 2011.  Paul A. Williams, 54, also received another five-year prison sentence for violating his probation on a previous stealing case.  The two sentences are consecutive for a total of 30 years. Investigators said Williams entered a home with a gun and told his ex-wife that he would kill other people in the home if she didn't leave with him.   He then fired a shot and hit a television.