Cedar Rapids kidnapping victim found; suspect in custody

Keith Elson, Jr. left his bicycle behind when he kidnapped a convenience store clerk early Monday in Cedar Rapids, police said.

Investigators said it was that bicycle that led officers to Elson and his victim, 19-year-old Amanda Daniel, inside an apartment building at 1400 Seventh Ave. SW.

Police found Daniel barricaded inside a bathroom in apartment No. 1 just after 11 a.m. Monday. She was alive and conscious.

Sgt. Cristy Hamblin said Daniel was admitted to Mercy Medical Center with bumps, scratches and cuts. Daniel's cousin, Deon Ehret, told The Gazette she might be released later Monday.

“She's good, and she's stable,” Ehret said. “She's able to walk around.”

VIDEO: Suspect taken away on stretcher

Police found Elson in the living room with a stab wound to his chest, Hamblin said. He was taken away by ambulance to St. Luke's Hospital, where he was undergoing surgery.

"We don't know whether she stabbed him or if it was self-inflicted," Hamblin said.

Elson is accused of kidnapping Daniel from the Kwik Shop, 1001 First Ave. SW, around 4 a.m. Monday. Surveillance video shows a man armed with a knife leading Daniel out the front door of the store, with his hand around the back of her neck.

Daniel was first reported missing around 4:20 a.m., when a delivery driver and a customer noticed she was not behind the counter. Police arrived and located a bicycle near the store, Hamblin said, employees of other area businesses told them it was Elson's.

VIDEO: Surveillance footage from Kwik Shop

Officers arrived at Elson's apartment just before 11 a.m. and saw what appeared to be blood on a screen door, Hamblin said. When they knocked on the door, they heard a female screaming.

Squad cars back at the Kwik Shop squealed out of the parking lot toward the apartment complex when the call came across the police radios. A short time later, Daniel was wheeled out on a stretcher.

“We love you, Amanda!” yelled one woman standing on the sidewalk.

A second ambulance arrived a few minutes later and medics took Elson out on another stretcher. He was hooked up to an IV.

AUDIO: Scanner traffic from the apartment scene

Charges are pending against Elson, police said. He was being monitored by police at the hospital.

Daniel had worked as a clerk at the store for about eight months and Elson was one of the regular customers, family members told The Gazette. Recently, Daniel told her sister about customers who had harassed her at the store, according to Daniel's cousin, Desirae Daniel.

"Amanda's had a couple guys come in and give her crap lately," said Desirae Daniel, 24, of Cedar Rapids. "She had one guy grab her butt. That's why she doesn't work Friday or Saturday nights anymore."

Police were still investigating to determine whether Daniel had been sexually assaulted.

“She's been through such a traumatic ordeal,” Hamblin said. “Now time is on our side, so we're taking our time as we interview her.”

Desirae Daniel said her aunt stopped at the store a few hours before the kidnapping and was waiting for customers to leave before Amanda would come outside to smoke. The aunt said the man later identified as Elson left the store without buying anything then and walked around the side of the building.

Police arrived to the Kwik Shop around 4:20 a.m. when a caller said the clerk was missing. Michele Clinton, manager of the Cigarette Outlet across the street, said she and a delivery driver looked in both bathrooms, an office and coolers, but no clerk was around.

“Something wasn't right,” said Clinton, who then called 911.

Elson had lived in the apartment on Seventh Avenue SW since April 1, according to manager Tony Hocamp, of Marengo. Elson was about to be evicted for not paying his rent and falsifying his application, Hocamp said.

A court date for the eviction was scheduled for this Wednesday.

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