Sarah Maynard, 13, who disappeared along with her brother, mother
and a family friend, was found on Sunday in the basement of a man's
home about 10 miles from her house.
Officials say Maynard's
brother, Kody, 10, their mother and the friend are still missing, |
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Missing Ohio Girl Found Alive, Bound; No Word on 3 Others
UPDATES BELOW
EDITOR'S NOTE: Video and more pictures on site
by Doug Whiteman - Associated Press
AOL News
November 14, 2010
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (Nov. 14) -- A 13-year-old girl missing for days was found bound and gagged but alive in a basement Sunday, and authorities hoped a man charged with kidnapping her might lead them to her mother, brother and another woman who disappeared with her.
Matthew J. Hoffman, 30, was arrested at his Mount Vernon home, where Sarah Maynard was found, Knox County Sheriff David Barber said. He said the girl was hospitalized in good condition but would give no details and did not say if she had been sexually abused.
Barber did not say what led investigators to Hoffman's home, which is about 10 miles from the home of Sarah's family, but he said Hoffman's mother and stepfather own a house within walking distance of Sarah's, and that Hoffman listed it as a second address. |
Barber said authorities hoped Hoffman would give them information leading to Sarah's mother, Tina Herrmann, her 10-year-old brother, Kody, and Herrmann's 41-year-old friend Stephanie Sprang.
The four vanished Wednesday in a case that was all the more alarming because an unusual amount of blood was found at Herrmann's home in Howard.
"We were hopeful of finding more than one of the missing people" in Hoffman's house, Barber said. "But the information we had was that Sarah would definitely be found in that house."
Authorities believe the girl had been "under the control" of Hoffman since Wednesday, when she and her brother last attended school, the sheriff said. He did not know if Hoffman was connected to either Herrmann or Sprang, but said he is not the ex-boyfriend of either woman.
"At this time, whether he's connected to the family or whether he connected himself to the family ... a lot of that remains to be seen as the investigation continues," Barber said.
Authorities had talked to the girl but would not release any details because the investigation is ongoing, Barber said.
Hoffman was charged with kidnapping, and Barber said more charges are expected. Neighbors has said they saw a body bag being taken from Hoffman's home about 40 miles north of Columbus, but the sheriff said that was "absolutely false."
"We have no one that we're aware of who is deceased," Barber said. "So we're still treating this as a missing persons case."
Authorities blocked off about a half block on either side of the home as they investigated early Sunday afternoon, keeping people from entering or leaving about a half dozen homes. But by late afternoon, the only sign of investigative activity was red and white evidence tape sealing the front door of the home closed.
The two-story house with tan vinyl siding, green shutters and a large television antenna on the roof sits in a middle-income neighborhood with two bars within a block away. Holly grows through the weathered slats of the porch. A sheet covered one window, and blinds were pulled down on the rest.
Dawna Davis, 35, who lives next door to Hoffman, said she told her children to stay indoors when he was out. She said he moved in alone about a year ago and that a girlfriend lived with him temporarily with her son until about a month ago.
"He would sit and listen to us up in a tree. He had a hammock and he would sit there and listen to us," she said. "He was just different. He was very different."
Davis said Hoffman did tree trimming work and had built a fire Wednesday night in his backyard, where there was a mound of ashes Sunday with tree parts on it. She said he walked to a nearby park with a lake almost every day and was a "nature person" who collected leaves.
Herrmann was reported missing Wednesday when she did not show up for work at a local Dairy Queen. Barber has said blood indicating an injury had been found in her home, where Sprang's vehicle was in the driveway.
Herrmann's pickup truck had been found Thursday night near the Kenyon College campus, leading to a lockdown at the school.
Hoffman was being held in the county jail, where personnel would not comment on whether he had an attorney. A bond hearing was expected to be held Monday. Attempts to reach relatives of Hoffman and of Sarah were unsuccessful Sunday.
http://www.aolnews.com/crime/article/ohio-town-awaits-word-on-case-of-missing-women
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Authorities charged
Matthew Hoffman, 30, with
kidnapping; more charges are expected. |
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Missing Ohio Girl Sarah Maynard Found; Police Search Park
by Edecio Martinez
CBS News / WBNS
November 15, 2010
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio -- Police on Monday blocked off a park a few blocks away from the home where Ohio teenager Sarah Maynard was found bound and gagged over the weekend.
Police apparently found items in Foundation Park in Mount Vernon, Ohio that may be connected to the 13-year-old girl and the three other people who went missing Wednesday. |
Matthew Hoffman, 30, was taken into custody inside the home where Sarah was found and charged with one count of kidnapping, investigators said. Additional charges against him were possible.
"We believe [Maynard] was taken sometime on Wednesday and [Hoffman] has had control of ever since," Knox County Sheriff David Barber told CBS affiliate WBNS.
Maynard's younger brother Kody, 11; her mother, Tina Herrmann, 32; and a family friend, Stephanie Sprang, 41, also vanished last week.
No one had seen or heard from the missing women or children since Wednesday, when Herrmann failed to show up for work. On Thursday, both of her children were absent from school.
Barber said he believed the three were still alive and the investigation was still being handled as missing persons case.
Barber said that special attention was being paid to blood that was found inside Herrmann's home. Barber called the amount of blood "unusual."
"It is obvious that someone was injured in the house," Barber told the station.
Kody A. Maynard is 4-feet-10-inches tall, weighing 70 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes.
Sprang is 5-feet-3-inches tall, weighing 110 pounds, with blonde hair and green eyes.
Herrmann is 5-feet-6-inches tall, weighing 122 pounds, with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Knox County Sheriff's Office at 740-397-3333.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20022800-504083.html |
