75-year-old escapes accused kidnapper while he shops at Dollar General, Arizona cops say
A man accused of kidnapping a 75-year-old woman and killing her 67-year-old boyfriend has been arrested, Arizona deputies say.
Deputies got a call just after 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 3, from a woman saying she had been kidnapped by a man in Pearce, the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office said in a Jan. 4 Facebook post.
When deputies arrived, they spoke with the woman who told them she was in her workshop at the back of her home earlier that day when a masked man in dark clothing armed with a handgun entered, deputies said.
The man forced the woman inside the house, where he restrained and blindfolded her, deputies said.
Soon after, the woman “heard several loud noises” but was unsure of what was happening, according to deputies.
Then, after nightfall, the man put the woman inside her car in the backseat, deputies said.
When the car stopped, the woman freed herself from her restraints and ran to a nearby home for help, deputies said.
The woman told deputies the man entered a Dollar General store and she thought he was still there when she called for help.
While the woman was talking with deputies, she asked that they contact her boyfriend at their home to let him know she was being taken to a hospital for minor injuries, according to the sheriff’s office.
However, when deputies arrived at the home, no one answered.
Deputies said they forced their way inside the home and found the boyfriend dead.
Through investigation, deputies said they identified a 37-year-old man as a suspect in the woman’s kidnapping and man’s killing.
Deputies issued a shelter in place order on Jan. 4 for residents near Catclaw Road and Highway 181 as they worked to detain the man who was barricaded, the sheriff’s office said.
Hours later, deputies said they arrested the man, ending the shelter in place order.
McClatchy News reached out to Cochise County’s district attorney and is awaiting a response on formal charges.
Pearce is about a 200-mile drive southeast from Phoenix.
This story was originally published January 6, 2025 at 12:11 PM with the headline "75-year-old escapes accused kidnapper while he shops at Dollar General, Arizona cops say."
