More than three years after an abduction in southern Manitoba RCMP called completely accidental, Mounties have arrested and charged a man thanks to a breakthrough in the investigation.
RCMP received an emergency call on the morning of June 23, 2019, from a homeowner who said an injured 16-year-old girl showed up at their door and said she had just escaped a kidnapping.
Mounties said the girl was walking her dog on a road southeast of Landmark, Man. when a man driving a pickup stopped and asked her if she needed a ride. When she said no, the man pulled out a knife, forced her into the back seat of the truck and drove off.
When the man reached a dead end in the road and began to slow down, the girl was able to escape and run to the nearest home and call the police.
Although the police searched for him, the man was not found. Five days after the kidnapping, Steinbach RCMP said the truck was found abandoned in a ditch.
“It was later found to have been stolen from Ile des Chênes on June 23 – the same day as the kidnapping,” said Insp. Tim Arsenault, with RCMP Major Crime Services.
“Officers searched the truck for evidence and were able to connect that vehicle to the kidnapping, but could not directly link it to any suspects.”
That left the RCMP deadlocked in the investigation, stalling it for more than a year.
“We finally got the break we needed,” Arsenault said.
In 2022, an unknown fingerprint found on the truck finally hit a snag. Arsenault said that led investigators to a witness who was able to give a statement to RCMP and follow up with more information.
That led investigators to make an arrest on January 10, 2023. Hercules Nicholas Chief, 24, of Steinbach, was arrested and charged with kidnapping, assault with a weapon, two counts of possession of stolen property over $5,000 and theft of a truck.
The charges against him have not been proven in court.
Mounties say the girl did not know the man and investigators have not been able to identify a motive behind the abduction, which they say appears to be “completely random.”
“It almost seems like a wrong place, wrong time crime of opportunity,” he said. “There was no specific intent that we were able to identify even through statements.”
The arrest comes more than three and a half years after the kidnapping.
“It was a long time and it was very frustrating for the investigators as well,” Arsenault said. “You don’t hear about these kinds of actual kidnappings — stranger versus stranger with no apparent connection. So it was very worrying.”
Arsenault said the kidnapping victim helped investigators identify the man and was later told he had been arrested and charged.
“She was very relieved. She was emotional, very grateful for that,” Arsenault said, highlighting the girl’s courage throughout the ordeal.
“She showed incredible courage by escaping from the vehicle and getting help. It was certainly very difficult to know that the assailant was at large. But hopefully this arrest will really bring some closure.”
Arsenault said as of Thursday that the chief remains in custody.
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