Police: Johns was wanted for weeks before alleged Solon abduction

JOHNSON COUNTY - Authorities had been searching for Kenneth Johns for weeks when he allegedly abducted his stepdaughter on Saturday, triggering an AMBER ALERT.

However, Coralville Police Lt. Shane Kron said Johns, 48, continued to evade law enforcement as they tried to serve him with a warrant related to a January domestic abuse incident during which he allegedly pointed a gun at a woman's head and threatened to kill her if she told anyone about his 'illicit activities.”

'Every time we went looking for him, we couldn't come up with him,” Kron said. 'We didn't have a good address. It wasn't because we didn't look, it was because we didn't find him.”

Although the incident is alleged to have occurred on Jan. 22, it wasn't reported until Feb. 16, Kron said. Kron said the victim reported the threats to the Department of Corrections, who urged her to report them to police.

Johns is back in custody in Johnson County on the warrant for domestic abuse while displaying a weapon, an aggravated misdemeanor; and a parole violation; a felony. Johns was captured in Davenport Sunday morning after allegedly abducting his 10-year-old stepdaughter Brianna Crane from Solon Saturday morning. Brianna was placed with the Department of Human Services after her safe return by a third party, according to the Department of Public Safety.

Authorities have not yet said what charges Johns could face in relation to the alleged abduction.

Johnson County Sheriff's Office Capt. Gary Kramer said a domestic abuse call early Saturday morning preceded Brianna's abduction. Deputies responded to a business in Solon where the victim had fled to report the abuse.

'While she was there talking to the deputy, that's when Brianna was taken,” Kramer said. Brianna was taken from a residence in Solon, but the girl lives in Coralville, Kramer said.

Kramer said investigators are still conducting interviews and piecing together the case.

'Right now, there are so many different facets of this case, we're just trying to interview everybody we can interview,” Kramer said Monday. 'We're trying to figure out what's occurred in the past five days of this child's life.”

Added Kramer, 'The most important thing is she is back and the person we were looking to find has been found and is in custody. She's in a safe environment.”

The girl's mother, 44-year-old Shelly Johns, told KCRG-TV9 on Monday she is relieved her daughter is safe and afraid of her husband.

'This man is vicious, he's violent, he's mentally unstable,” Johns said. 'He is an abuser, this man has put a gun to my head.”

Shelly Johns said she hadn't seen Kenneth until he kicked in her door at the couple's Coralville home on Tuesday. Shelly said Kenneth had been staying with her, but she was too afraid to contact law enforcement because of threatening statements he had made.

On Friday night Brianna, Shelly and Kenneth went to a family member's home in Solon, according to Shelly. Around 4:30 a.m. Saturday, she says she left to contacted law enforcement from a nearby Casey's gas station. Kenneth Johns saw the interaction and took off with Brianna, according to Shelly.

'He took my daughter as a form of control to get back at me,” she said.

Shelly says the she and Kenneth were married in 2010 while Kenneth was incarcerated at a state prison in Mount Pleasant. The two had met through a mutual friend a short time before their marriage.

'Mr. Johns is very good with his words, he built my self-esteem up, made me feel like I was a queen on top of the world,” said Shelly.

In a phone call to The Gazette/KCRG-TV9 newsroom Saturday night, Johns said he took the girl to protect her.

'I've done nothing wrong but love my child. I love my child. I love everything about her. She's my daughter,” he said. 'The whole plan is to have her returned. This was not a planned out action.”

Authorities have said the girl is in good condition, but little else about her return or the events leading up to the AMBER ALERT.

Davenport police said authorities learned Johns was in Davenport around 7 p.m. Saturday. By 7 a.m. Sunday, he was determined to be at a house in the 2600 block of Farnam Street. Davenport police said the department's Emergency Service Team and negotiators, along with an armored vehicle from the Bettendorf Police Department, responded to the residence.

Police negotiated with Johns for two-and-a-half hours and moved in to arrest him after his dialogue became 'more threatening and violent,” according to a statement from the department. No one was injured during Johns' capture.

Johns has an extensive criminal record. In 2006, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison on several charges including a prohibited acts and multiple counts of assault while participating in a felony. He was paroled in December 2013.

Johns is scheduled to be in court Tuesday morning.