116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Suspected Kwik Shop kidnapper due in court today
The man suspected of kidnapping Cedar Rapids convenience store clerk Amanda Daniel will make an initial appearance in Linn County District Court at 10:30 a.m. today.
Convenience store clerk Amanda Daniel told police she was sexually abused during the seven hours she was kidnapped by Keith Elson Jr. last week, court documents say.
Daniel's claim is included in a search warrant affidavit filed Monday, when Elson, 54, was interviewed by police for the first time since the incident a week ago. The interview came after Elson, of Cedar Rapids, was released from St. Luke's Hospital, where he was hospitalized with stab wounds.
Elson was charged Monday with first-degree kidnapping.
The affidavit by Cedar Rapids Police Investigator Craig Von Sprecken accompanied a request for a search warrant to collect Elson's DNA samples, hair, and clothing. Judge Casey Jones approved the search, and police took a swab from Elson's cheek, hair from his head, chest, and pubic area, and a pair of underwear, according to the document.
Officers who kicked in the door of Elson's apartment at 1400 Seventh Ave. SW found him “covered with a blanket and (he) had blood on his face, shoulders, and hair,” according to the affidavit. They found Daniel, 19, barricaded in the bathroom.
The affidavit doesn't indicate how Elson was stabbed.
Elson is accused of kidnapping 19-year-old Amanda Daniel at knifepoint from Kwik Shop, 1001 First Ave. SW, in the early-morning hours of May 17. Police swarmed his apartment at 1400 Seventh Ave. SW about seven hours after the abduction found Elson and Daniel inside.
Daniel was treated and released from Mercy Medical Center that afternoon, but Elson had spent a week at St. Luke's Hospital, recovering from a stab wound to the chest. He underwent surgery for the wound and was in the Intensive Care Unit for a few days, police said.
There has been speculation that Daniel fought back against Elson and stabbed him, but police have not released those details.
Elson was released from the hospital Monday afternoon. Sgt. Cristy Hamblin, a police spokeswoman, said Elson was taken to the Linn County Jail, where he was later interviewed by police.
Daniel's family issued a statement Monday afternoon saying she is “a loving and caring young woman that likes to make people smile.”
“She is an amazing and strong woman who is a survivor,” the statement read. “The family is very proud of her will to survive. And the family hopes that what happened to Amanda will be a lesson to other victims to turn their fear into the determination to live.
“The family will continue to surround Amanda with the love and support to help her through this time in her life.”
Daniel was working the graveyard shift alone at Kwik Shop. Store officials have since posted a security guard at the store for that shift.
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