Steinbach man charged in 2019 abduction

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This article was published 12/01/2023 (1014 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RCMP have arrested a Steinbach man for the abduction of a rural Manitoba teen 3 1/2 years ago, after a lengthy, complicated and “frustrating” investigation.

The kidnapping of the 16-year-old girl near Landmark on June 23, 2019, appears to have been random, said RCMP Insp. Tim Arseneault.

“(The) motivation is unclear — it almost seems to be a wrong place at the wrong time — a crime of opportunity,” Arseneault told reporters Thursday. “There’s been no specific intent that we can identify, even through statements.”

The incident happened in the early morning, while the girl was walking her dog on a road in the Rural Municipality of Tache, near her home.

The driver of a pickup truck stopped and asked if she needed a ride, RCMP said at the time. When she declined, the man forced the girl into the truck while armed with a knife.

The teen managed to escape as the vehicle slowed while approaching a dead end on Road 45 North, roughly four kilometres east of Landmark.

The victim, who suffered minor injuries during the incident, made her way to the nearest home.

“I want to acknowledge the bravery of the victim. She showed incredible courage escaping the vehicle and getting help… It’s no doubt been a very difficult time knowing the assailant remained at large, but it’s our hope that this arrest does bring a small amount of closure,” said Arseneault.

“The victim has been made aware. She’s very relieved, she’s emotional, very thankful for it.”

Mounties found the truck, which had been stolen from Île des Chênes on the day of the kidnapping, abandoned in a ditch in Steinbach on June 28.

Although they found a fingerprint inside, police couldn’t find a suspect, Arseneault said, as no matches came up in the RCMP’s national database.

“It was a long time, and it was very frustrating for investigators,” the inspector said. “And you don’t (often) hear about these types of kidnappings, stranger on stranger, with no apparent connection. So it was very concerning.

“A breakthrough came in February 2022, when officers were notified that an unknown fingerprint collected during the initial investigation… had just resulted in a match and a name” due to an unrelated case, Arseneault said.

The fingerprint turned out to be that of a witness, Arseneault said, but by interviewing that witness and subsequent other people, as well as other investigative techniques, Mounties recently identified a suspect.

On Tuesday, RCMP officers arrested 24-year-old Hercules Nicholas Chief. He’s charged with kidnapping, assault with a weapon, theft and two counts of possession of property obtained by crime.

In September 2022, Chief pleaded guilty to assault, assaulting a police officer and resisting a police officer, court records show. He received a 12-month conditional discharge.

— with files from Dean Pritchard

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera