Joseph D. Rankin, 27, and Paula Hopkins, 45, both of the 200 block of South Quincy Avenue, were arrested at about 8 a.m. near the intersection of East Broadway Boulevard and South Massachusetts Avenue after SPD Officer Daniel Benner recognized their vehicle as one reportedly used in the Oct. 31 kidnapping of a 57-year-old Sedalia woman from her home in the 1000 block of West Sixth Street.
According to court documents, the victim reported she was abducted from her home by Rankin and Hopkins. She told authorities Rankin pulled a pocket knife from his pocket and told her “he would cut her dog’s legs off” if she didn’t cooperate. The pair then drove the victim to the Kansas City area where they forced her to write several checks on her bank account and also took her debit card and made several withdrawals.
The woman reported the couple held her at two Kansas City-area motels, barricading her in the bathroom each night.
On Nov. 2, the woman said they stopped at a convenience store and she managed to escape from their moving vehicle.
“(The victim) stated she decided it was now or never and she opened the back door of the car and jumped out as the car was moving. She stated she hit the pavement then got up and ran into the store,” the report stated.
The victim was picked up a short time later by Kansas City, Kan., police officers.
Investigators reportedly obtained a transaction list and video footage of Rankin making ATM withdrawals on the victim’s debit card at the Isle of Capri Casino in Kansas City.
The victim’s card was reportedly used again at a Walmart in Roeland Park, Kan., about an hour after the victim escaped from her abductors.
Rankin and Hopkins were both charged Monday with one count each of felonious restraint and armed criminal action and are being held at the Pettis County Jail on $500,000 bond.
From the Sedalia Democrat
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