Sean C. Morgan
Linn County deputies arrested four people last week in connection to the alleged kidnapping of a 20-year-old Sweet Home woman.
Daniel Fred Schroeder, 54, of Sweet Home was arrested on April 22 and arraigned on April 24 in Linn County Circuit Court on charges first-degree kidnapping, a class A felony; third-degree assault, a class C felony; and first-degree unlawful sexual penetration, a class A felony. He is scheduled for a status check on the case on May 6 and is lodged at Linn County Jail with bail set at $200,000.
Late on April 22, a citizen called the Linn County Sheriff’s Office to report the location of Schroeder, the suspect wanted in the case, Sheriff Tim Mueller reported in a statement April 23.
Deputies located Schroeder at a residence in Lebanon. He was transported to the Linn County Sheriff’s Office in Albany where he was interviewed by detectives.
Joseph Rafael Gutierrez, 30, and Karissa Lynett Williams, 33, were arrested at about 6 p.m. on April 23 in Sweet Home and arraigned on April 24 for third-degree assault.
Michell Dawn Slay, 25, turned herself in at the Linn County Sheriff’s Office on April 24. She was arraigned on April 25 for third-degree assault.
Gutierrez remains in jail with bail set at $5,000. He is being held on no bail for parole violation. Slay and Williams are out on conditional releases.
Gutierrez is scheduled to next appear in court on May 6. Williams is scheduled to appear on May 30, and Slay is scheduled to appear on May 26. Gutierrez also is the defendant in another case on charges of second-degree criminal trespass and attempted third-degree theft, filed in Linn County Circuit Court on March 12.
The Sweet Home Police Department received a call at 11:49 a.m. on April 21 of a woman carrying a knife and walking down the street with a rope tied around her neck in the 100 block of Highway 228. She appeared to be bleeding. A Sweet Home police officer stood by with her until Linn County deputies arrived.
Sweet Home police talked to her to find out what happened, said Police Chief Bob Burford. The incident occurred outside the city limits, which made it Linn County Sheriff’s Office’s case.
The victim reported that she had gone to the residence of the suspect on Friday, Mueller said. She informed detectives that sometime over the weekend she was physically assaulted and held against her will until she was able to leave Sunday morning when the suspect was asleep.
The investigation led to the service of a search warrant at the residence on April 21. Members of Linn County Regional SWAT assisted with the search warrant.
They’re associates,” said Undersheriff Bruce Riley. “Maybe not friends. They knew each other. She went there voluntarily and things went bad at that point.”
Drugs were involved, Riley said, and an argument started over missing property, including a wallet. That information was part of the initial accusation. Afterward, she was allegedly held against her will, escaping on April 21 while Schroeder was sleeping.
No further arrests are anticipated at this time, Mueller said.
Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller reports an arrest has been made in the kidnap and assault of a woman near Sweet Home.