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Arrest made in case of missing Alaska barista
[Updated 6:03 p.m.] Police in Lufkin, Texas, have made an arrest in the case of a barista abducted from an Anchorage, Alaska, coffee stand in early February, Anchorage police said Friday.
Israel Keyes, a construction worker from Anchorage, was arrested after a traffic stop in the Texas city on Tuesday, Anita Shell, Anchorage Police Department public information director, told CNN.
“He was arrested for fraud and related activity in connection with access devices, which is a felony,” said Shell, adding that she couldn't comment further because the arrest warrant in the case has been sealed.
The arrest was a multi-force effort by the Anchorage police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, local law enforcement agencies in Lufkin, Texas, as well as the Texas Rangers.
Samantha Koenig, an 18-year-old barista, was snatched from her parking lot coffee stand by a hooded man on the evening of February 1.
Authorities still need the public's help in finding the missing woman as well as information related to Keyes since January 1, the Anchorage police said in a statement released Friday.
"He's the only person charged in this case," Anchorage Police Detective Slawomir Markiewicz told reporters on Thursday. Police would not elaborate on details of what the detective called a "sensitive" case.
The detective said police have no evidence that Keyes and Koenig knew each other before the abduction.
"We don't have information about her whereabouts or her well-being," Markiewicz said. "We still don't know where she is. We don't want to do anything that would put this investigation in jeopardy."
Markiewicz said police know when Keyes went to Texas but he would not give any details.
Police arrested Keyes after finding evidence in his vehicle linking him to an out-of-state kidnapping, Texas law enforcement officials said, according to a report on KTVA.com.
Keyes is being held in a federal detention facility in Beaumont, Texas, Shell said. Anchorage detectives have been in Texas for several days investigating the case, she said.
In Anchorage, police have searched the home where Keyes lived and are asking for anyone who has done business with Keyes' one-man construction company to contact them, the Anchorage Daily News reports.
A website for that company says Keyes moved to Alaska in 2007 after previous jobs in Washington state and three years in the Army.
Koenig's abduction sparked fear in one of the hallmarks of the Anchorage community, its numerous coffee stands. Baristas reported taking increased safety precautions after Koenig was taken.
On Twitter
No there should not have to be we have to wait,we need to talk to him in a way that he takes us to where the girl is dead or alive,her family needs to know now not later,all of you who want this mans rights upheld are not the victim or her family,the only people who have rights are the family and the police interrogator who should have the right to get the truth right now.
I worked as a barista in Anchorage right out of high school (in 2003) and back then, we carried pepper spray with us! As much as I love my hometown, Anchorage has gotten scary. There should have been precautions put in place before this! It's so sad that her family is being put through this, but I'm glad Anchorage is getting the reality check it so desperately needs. I'm looking forward to hearing more about this case as it progresses, it's so strange for APD to be so tight lipped about any matter, especially a missing woman.
Didn't Bush take away those silly rights can't we waterboard this fella to find this girl or did OBAMA steal another valuable tool from law enforcement that Republicans past to help secure America from Terrorists
You are garbage.
Are you sure she's from Alaska? She looks a lot like Jerseylicious.
Anyway, I'm sorry she met a bad fate. Hope they got the right guy.
Maybe it should a bin you!!
A young girl disappears and is probably dead and some people think this is fodder for jokes and snarky comments. I hope they never experience tragedy and loss in their lives. They won't find it to be funny then.
You're right...
Police arrested Keyes after finding evidence in his vehicle linking him to an out-of-state kidnapping
How could someone steel a person its not right.
The ides of capital punishment did not start in America, take a history class or at least Google before you say somethiing stupid.As the death penalty has been established as a punishment for crimes as far as 18th Century BC, the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon.