Lang
11/5/23
The Iowa Department of Public Safety is looking for a kidnapping suspect who may have travelled through Johnson County.
The DPS issued a late Saturday night news release indicating that at 5:10 Saturday night the Cass County Sheriff’s Office received a report of an adult male who had been kidnapped. The caller was flagged down on the roadside by the alleged victim just south of the Marne exit on Interstate 80. The victim stated he had been kidnapped in Lincoln, Nebraska and was being forced to drive to Chicago by a man with a gun. The suspect is described as a black male with well-trimmed hair, a short stubble beard, standing 5’10 and weighing approximately 160 lbs. He is believed to be in his late 20’s to 30’s and was wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans.
The victim says the suspect had him leave I-80 at the Marne exit, where he then pulled a gun on another vehicle driving by and entered the second vehicle at gunpoint. That vehicle was described as a Silver Chevy two-door pickup operated by an older white male subject with a beard. The vehicle then went eastbound on Interstate 80. If the reported kidnapper actually was heading to Chicago, he likely would have gone through Johnson County on the interstate sometime Saturday night.
The Cass County Sheriff’s Office is requesting public assistance if a family member from the surrounding area has not returned home. At this point the identity of the subject in the Chevy pickup is unknown. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office is currently working with multiple law enforcement agencies in the investigation.