The Anchorage Police Department says they are looking for two suspects believed to be involved in a kidnapping that occurred on Aug. 14. A third suspect, 19-year-old Jean Vagao, is in custody.
Police were first notified of the kidnapping at 9:52 p.m. when a woman called them to report a vehicle with her friend still inside had been stolen at gunpoint near Second Avenue and Bunn Street, APD spokeswoman Renee Oistad said in a statement Sunday. The woman said she was in the driver’s seat when a man, later identified as 18-year-old William Burgess, walked up to her with a gun and ordered her out of the vehicle. Oistad said the victim’s friend was still in the front passenger seat when he drove off.
At 11:41 p.m., a passerby called police to say they had found the second victim on Eklutna Lake Road, Oistad said. The victim told police Burgess drove her to another vehicle that held Vagao and 24-year-old Serge Azede II. In the second vehicle, the victim was allegedly zip-tied and assaulted by the three suspects before she was left in the woods in an area near Eklutna Lake.
Oistad said the victim was able to break free of the zip ties on her ankles and eventually made her way to Eklutna Lake Road, where she was later found.
“Police believe this was a targeted event,” Oistad wrote in the statement. “The victim and Burgess knew one another beforehand.”
No information about this incident was issued to the public until after KTVA requested information about kidnapping and assault charges against Vagao on Sunday. In an email response to KTVA, Oistad said the incident did not appear to be a public safety concern.
“We knew right away this was a targeted event and we did not have a public safety concern,” she said in the email. “It took four days for us to search through all the details and determine exactly what happened, and then to gather the evidence required to support the charges we brought forth — four days is the time between the initial report and the time we obtained the warrants [on Thursday]. We were then hoping to scoop up all three suspects this weekend before it went public. We were looking for them but it looks like at least one has made his way to Fairbanks.”
Oistad said APD has charged Vagao with kidnapping and second-degree assault, Azede with kidnapping and Burgess with kidnapping, second- and third-degree assault and second-degree sexual assault.
Police arrested Vagao and booked him at the Anchorage Correctional Complex, where he is currently being held. He was arraigned Saturday afternoon.
Police are now asking for the public’s help in locating Burgess and Azede. Burgess is believed to be in the Fairbanks area, Oistad said. He is 6 feet tall and weighs around 180 pounds. Azede is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs about 190 pounds, she said.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Azede or Burgess is asked to call APD at 907-786-8900 or Crime Stoppers at 907-561-7867.
