Kidnapping

Harsh on the Critic

Man Arrested for Robbing, Kidnapping Wash U. Student at Knifepoint

A 22-year-old from Downtown West was arrested on Wednesday on charges that he robbed and kidnapped a Washington University student last August. According to St. Louis County Police, William J. Cobbins was the man who approached the 23-year-old female victim as she was getting into to her car in a ca ... More >>

Missouri Woman Kept in Freezer Survives Kidnapping, Rape

​Prosecutors in Randolph County have charged four people in the bizarre kidnapping and rape of a 22-year-old Moberly woman last week. Randolph County Sheriff Mark Nichols tells Daily RFT that the victim and 34-year-old Michael Wright were partying and doing meth in a Moberly hotel when Wright "bas ... More >>

Antonio Green: Accused of Dousing Wife and Daughter with Lighter Fluid, Killing Pet Bird

​A St. Louis man who authorities say terrorized his wife and daughter -- and the family pet -- on Sunday was charged this week with kidnapping, assault and and a slew of other crimes. Antonio Green, 26, allegedly kept police at bay in a stand-off when they first arrived to his home in the North Po ... More >>

Ayad Akhtar Talks About American Dervish, The Invisible Hand, Bacon and Seinfeld

Ayad Akhtar is a lucky man. His first novel, American Dervish, came out in January and has received extravagant praise from the likes of the New York Times and NPR; you can hear him read from it this Wednesday, February 29, at Left Bank Books. Next month, for a few days anyway, he will have two play ... More >>

Third ATM Solutions Robber Sentenced

​The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri announced today that Larry Newman has been sentenced to 294 months in federal prison for his role in the August 2010 armed robbery of ATM Solutions, as well as the kidnapping of two juvenile girls -- family members of his co-cons ... More >>

Dupo Kidnapper Found Guilty Today

​Thomas Cureton thought he could beat the Feds. But the kidnapper accused of beating his victim and putting a gun to her head went down today. Cureton, 30, of Dupo, Illinois, was convicted in federal court this morning on several violent charges, including kidnapping and selling crack across ... More >>

Cornell Hampton: Accused Rapist Charged with Second Kidnapping

Cornell Hampton is a serial kidnapper, according to prosecutors.​The "Good Samaritan" who in February helped a woman get her car out of the snow and ice in the Central West End and then allegedly kidnapped and raped her, committed a similar crime a month earlier. According to charges filed Friday, ... More >>

Totally Uncreative Would-be Kidnapper Actually Asks Kid if He'd "Like Some Candy"

Image viaThe tired tools of yesteryear's kidnappers, which apparently some still find effective​Wow, THAT'S all you got, you pathetic cliché of a slimeball? From KTVI Fox2now (Channel 2): Yesterday morning just before 9 a.m., a little boy scurried inside Avery Elementary School with something urg ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Would Be Child Molester Needs Updated Bait

Today's comment comes in response to a post whose title says it all: Totally Uncreative Would-be Kidnapper Actually Asks Kid if He'd "Like Some Candy."That prompted reader Handsome Jimmy to speculate: Dude was probably handing out Starlite Mints and Werther Originals.

Myron Kimble: Associate of ATM Solutions Robbery Suspect Arrested for April Kidnapping

Currency Exchange at MLK Drive and Rowan in northwest St. Louis.​Officers with the St. Louis police department's Tactical Operations Unit, the FBI TaskForce and the U.S. Marshals yesterday apprehended 22-year-old Myron Kimble after a brief foot chase in the parking lot of St. Clair Mall.Kimble was ... More >>

ATM Solutions Robbery Adds a Kidnapping: Relatives of Suspect Held for Ransom

A record heist. A jail break. And now a kidnapping? Who says sequels are never as good as the original?​The FBI announced today that two teenage girls believed to be related to one of the suspects in August's multi-million robbery of ATM Solutions were kidnapped and held for ransom this week. Four ... More >>

Asylum Denied: Only a fraction of Mexicans get U.S. asylum.

Seized: Inside the brutal world of America's kidnapping capital

Kidnapped Chicagoan Ad Campaign Encourages Our Timid Northern Neighbors to Visit St. Louis

One day in May, a Chicago man boarded an El train (or maybe it was a bus) -- and disappeared. No one actually saw the abduction, but reports of the dastardly deed appeared all over the city's mass transit, along with hints that more information could be found on the website www.kidnappedchicagoan.co ... More >>

All Hail the Duke

McBain, Japanese Style

The Killer of His Daughter's Mother

A cunning American boy becomes a Mexican cartel soldier and East LA executioner

Woman Kidnapped from Kansas City, Saved at Metro East McDonald's

A likely suspect.​I'm guessing it was the Hamburglar and perhaps Grimus, too. Though police have yet to name the two male suspects arrested for kidnapping a woman from Kansas City on Tuesday and driving her to a McDonald's in Fairview Heights, Illinois. As the Belleville News-Democrat reports this ... More >>

New Charges in Kidnapping Case of the "Bumbling Idiots"

William Barger, alleged kidnapping ringleader​Two additional Missouri men have been charged with plotting the bizarre kidnapping last month of a New Jersey man who turned out to be the wrong intended target. The case of mistaken identity prompted the sheriff in the southwestern Missouri town of Ne ... More >>

Who is Ass Clown of the Week, January 8-15?

media.urbandictionary.com​You know the rules. Vote for the local newsmaker who you think committed the most scandalous and/or idiotic act of the week. And the candidates...1. Mark McGwire: After years of denying and obfuscating his alleged use of steroids, Big Mac came clean this week -- admitting ... More >>

The Worst Thing Ever: Mark Whicker, Jaycee Dugard, and Why Rape Victims Aren't Funny

Hey, you know what I like? Jokes. How about you guys? You do? Well that's just great. Have I ever got a treat for you. â€‹Have you heard the one about the little girl who was kidnapped, tossed into some dude's yard, raped repeatedly, impregnated, forced to give birth in a shed, and kept im ... More >>

Joker Bites His Wife's Face, Tells Cops He's Batman

scrapetv.com"Never start with the head, the victim gets all fuzzy."You know, criminals in this town used to believe in things. Honor. Respect. Look at Granite City resident Thomas Byrd. What does he believe in?According to a story in this morning's Belleville News-Democrat, face-biting: Thomas ... More >>

New Book Recounts Tale of Notorious 1953 Missouri Kidnapping

St. Martin's PressJohn Heidenry is probably one of the few people who remember the Bobby Greenlease case, though in 1953 it was considered the most audacious kidnapping in American crime history since the Lindbergh baby in 1932.Heidenry, whose resume includes St. Louis magazine and Penthouse Forum a ... More >>

Heather Raffo's Nine Parts of Desire applies a modern-day twist to Scheherazade

Good Grief, Thief

Michael Devlin Charged With Attempted Murder

Monster Next Door?

From Webster Groves High to Imo’s Pizza to a cheap apartment in a forlorn corner of Kirkwood. For years Michael Devlin was all but invisible. Now he’s Public Enemy No. 1.

Deep Doo-doo

A modern-day Bonnie and Clyde are after your money again

Paternity Test

Orphans ask, "Who's your daddy?"

Flying Spirit

On the eve of the 75th anniversary of his transatlantic flight, Historyonics Theatre examines Charles Lindbergh

Flight Path

Opera Theatre of St. Louis charts the course for the world premiere of a Lindbergh opera

Held Hostage

Proof of Life kidnaps the audience, then tortures it to a slow death

Cecil B. Demented

Written and directed by John Waters

Perfect Circles

The RFT music editor advises you on his favorite music of 1998