Johns had help in evading police, Johnson County investigators say

IOWA CITY - Johnson County Sheriff's Office investigators sought cellphone records for Kenneth Johns in an attempt to trace his whereabouts after he abducted his stepdaughter earlier this month.

A search warrant affidavit shows that Johns, 48, of Coralville, had assistance getting from a field in Johnson County to Muscatine and from Muscatine to Davenport, but police do not know all the details of those trips.

'Law enforcement does not know how Kenneth Johns got from Muscatine, Iowa to Davenport,” the search warrant affidavit reads.

Johns faces charges of second-degree kidnapping, dominion/control of a firearm by a felon and carrying weapons for the March 7 abduction of his stepdaughter from a residence in Solon. According to the sheriff's office, deputies responded to the Casey's General Store in Solon after Johns' wife called to report a domestic abuse incident involving him. At the time, he was wanted on a warrant for a prior domestic incident.

Authorities said Johns fled Solon in a vehicle, and later that day, after learning he might be in possession of a weapon, an Amber Alert was issued. The stepdaughter was turned over to authorities by a third party in West Branch early on March 8 and Johns was arrested in Davenport after a standoff with police later that day.

Until now, details of Johns' run from the law have not been revealed, save for the beginning and end of his time on the lam.

According to the warrant, filed March 11, after Johns took his daughter, the two fled to a field in Johnson County and abandoned the vehicle. A cellphone belonging to Johns was found in the vehicle. Police said Johns made one known call on that phone, apparently to arrange a ride. The stepdaughter later told Child Protective Service investigators that a woman picked up her and Johns in the field and took them both to Muscatine.

Around 6:30 that evening, Johns called The Gazette/KCRG-TV9 newsroom from a separate phone number that showed up blocked and indicated he was with his stepdaughter.

'(Johns' wife) reported that Johns frequently switched cellphones and maintained multiple cellphones because of his drug use,” according to the warrant.

The warrant indicates Johns maintained at least three cellphone numbers.

Johns' wife also received texts from her daughter from a cellphone while she was with Johns.

The warrant states that Johns and the stepdaughter separated in Muscatine and Johns left with someone who went by 'Wookie or Mookie,” according to the stepdaughter. The stepdaughter was taken to West Branch by the boyfriend of the woman who transported her and Johns to Muscatine, according to the warrant.

Law enforcement have not indicated whether anyone else will be charged in connection with the Amber Alert case, but the warrant indicates others could be charged. A message left with Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek was not immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.

'These records are critical to this investigation to help establish a timeline of Kenneth Johns' movements and to establish who help (sic) him evade law enforcement and assisted him in transporting and hiding himself and (his stepdaughter),” the documents state.

Johns remains in custody without bond for a parole violation related to an earlier domestic abuse investigation. He faces 25 years in prison for the kidnapping charge.