| Topic: |
Sociology > Depression |
| User: |
"Rich" |
| Date: |
17 Sep 2006 10:57:44 PM |
| Object: |
Text Message Leads to Kidnapping Suspect (ot) |
[Another monster is caught]
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?
f=/n/a/2006/09/17/national/a085614D75.DTL
'
Text Message Leads to Kidnapping Suspect
By JEFFREY COLLINS, Associate Press Writer
Sunday, September 17, 2006
(09-17) 13:22 PDT Lugoff, S.C. (AP) --
A man suspected of kidnapping a 14-year-old girl and keeping her in an
underground bunker was arrested Sunday, surrendering without a fight
along a highway after eluding police for months with an elaborate system
of hideouts and tunnels.
Investigators arrested Vinson Filyaw in Richland County about 24 hours
after rescuing Elizabeth Shoaf, who had sent a text message to her
mother on Finlaw's phone while he was a sleep, said Sheriff Steve
McCaskill in neighboring Kershaw County.
Shoaf had been missing for 10 days and was rescued Saturday from a
booby-trapped bunker 15 feet underground.
Filyaw, 37, will be charged with kidnapping, possession of an incendiary
device and impersonating an officer, McCaskill said.
He said more charges likely will follow after investigators interview
Shoaf on Monday about her Sept. 6 abduction and 10-day ordeal.
[...]
Shoaf was found about a mile from her home, hidden in a 15-foot-deep
hole carved out of the side of a hill and covered with plywood. The
bunker had a hand-dug privy with toilet paper, a camp stove and shelves
made with cut branches and canvas.
Sheriff's Capt. David Thomley said the bunker the girl was found in was
the fourth bunker investigators discovered since they began looking for
Filyaw. Authorities believe all the bunkers were dug by Filyaw.
McCaskill said the girl appeared to be unharmed but was taken to Kershaw
County Medical Center for evaluation.
Investigators used cell towers to determine a general location of the
phone and deputies began searching for Filyaw on Friday night. McCaskill
said the girl cried out as searchers approached the bunker.
Shoaf was kidnapped Sept. 6 after getting off a school bus in this rural
area 10 miles northeast of Columbia.
Police were tipped off to Filyaw's location Sunday after getting a call
from a woman who said he tried to carjack her about 2 a.m. outside a
pizza restaurant, authorities said.
Filyaw was on foot - about five miles from his house - carrying a pellet
gun, a Taser and a long hunting knife when police captured him. He gave
up easily, McCaskill said, adding that he doesn't think the suspect had
any help escaping.
[...]
Investigators said Filyaw posed as a police officer when he met Shoaf
and the girl was walked around in the woods by her captor until she
became disoriented. He used handmade grenades and a flare gun to
threaten her while she was in the bunker, McCaskill said.
The bunker was protected by a booby-trap. It had food, shelves and even
a stove for cooking, McCaskill said.
Deputies had been searching for months for Filyaw, an unemployed
construction worker, on an unrelated charge of criminal sexual conduct
against a 12-year-old girl. Officers tried to arrest him at his home
earlier this week, but he escaped using a tunnel under his bedroom, the
sheriff said.
Since then, Filyaw has likely spent most of his time in the bunkers, the
sheriff said.
[...]
On Sunday, the driveway in front of Shoaf's home was decorated with
"Welcome Home" balloons.
[...]
Filyaw's yard was overgrown with weeds Sunday morning, and no one
answered the door.
A sign handwritten was still attached to an open gate leading into the
back yard. It read: "Anyone who tries to get past this gate will be
shot. No questions asked. This includes cops."
The word "cops" was underlined three times.
This is the second South Carolina case this year involving an abducted
teenage girl taken to an underground hideout.
Kenneth Hinson of Hartsville is charged with kidnapping two 17-year-old
girls March 14 and taking them to a closet-sized dungeon behind his
home. Authorities said the girls freed themselves and walked to safety.
Hinson was captured after a four-day manhunt.
'
--
- Rich
----------
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