Notes from press conference:
within half hour of amber alert went out fbi offered help
he abducted girl at 3:55 pm
guy pointed gun at girl
made her get in vehicle
her friends called 911
they described him as having white hair and a goatee
victim described suspect as having reddish hair
he had a bed in back of vehicle
he drove her to church parking lot
he drove north
and he told her to keep head down
he hit her on head when she lifted her head
he told her he was not going to hurt her
traveled up a moutain
pulled off the road and he sexually assaulted her
then pulled over let her out
untied her and left her there
she walked quite a distance
when she encountered hunters
hunters let her use their cell phones to call her mom
victim transported to hospital
suspect is 39 years old
he is from manhattan wyoming
charged with aggravated assault
use of firearm
kidnapping
additional charges are to be filed
he thanks victim and family
victim is very strong
lots of praise for victim
suspect located thru surveillance
from businesses
that was key to investigation
appreciated fbi agents assistance
and other detectives and members of police unit and crime lab, task force etc
law enforcement officers
other police departments in area
response was tremendous
Bob Evans supervisor for FBI speaks and responded with assistance
agents men and women worked relentlessly to resolve case
tips provided by community were invaluable
especially two tips
suspects tie to community is not known
suspect does not have criminal history
the video same vehicle seen several times used those pieces of info to find the vehicle
suspect dumped the topper to his suv
video with license plate led to finding suspect
did a 80 mile sweep of Cody in depth of video from across the community
there was video of suspect as he traveled out of town and put him in place and time
vehicle identified quickly
would not release name of suspect
thanked crisis intervention
not known if suspect was arrested with incident or not
asked not to release suspects name at the press conference
chief asks community to go over safety precautions with kids, he says we are in a different time and have to be on guard and be smart
initial information about suspect was incorrect
pictures of other girls in suspect’s car was not commented on
no comment on whether this was a random act