Man Arrested For Kidnapping Parker Co. Woman
updated 3/14 4:52 p.m.
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - On March 3 the Parker County Sheriff's Office began investigating a missing person's case when a home was burned to the ground and the owner could not be located.
The 62-year-old homeowner hadn't been seen since the fire at her home in Whitt was started.
Parker County officials, along with the Texas Rangers, began investigating the disappearance. Witnesses said they'd seen a blue compact car near the woman's home just before it caught fire.
That information led officials to Jeffrey Allan Maxwell, who had previously lived near the burned home.
The woman was found alive at the house where Maxwell now lives, in Navarro County Saturday. Investigators say she'd been taken from her home at gunpoint and had been held captive in Corsicana for 13 days.
"This is a horrendous case," Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said in a press release. "We are... glad she is getting the treatment necessary to overcome a horrific ordeal."
According to investigators, the woman had been tied up, restrained and repeatedly assaulted. Officials took the woman to a hospital where she was treated and released. She is currently under protective custody.
Maxwell, 58, was taken into custody and is currently held in Navarro County Jail, but is expected to be transferred to Parker County, where the investigation continues and further charges are pending.
So far, Maxwell is only charged with aggravated kidnapping. If convicted, he faces up to 99 years in prison or life and up to a $10,000 fine.
