A Wasilla man has been charged after he allegedly abducted two girls in North Pole and then let them go.
Michael Bowen, 40, is charged with felony kidnapping. The girls — 7 and 9 years old — said they were taken while riding their bicycles home from Safeway on Saturday, Aug. 1, according to a sworn affidavit signed by an FBI special agent.
The 9-year-old told authorities a man put the girls in the front seat of a pickup truck, stowed their bicycles in the truck bed and drove them around before dropping them off in a dental clinic parking lot, the court documents say.
According to the affidavit, the girls’ mother told authorities the elder daughter had her cellphone and that she had tried to call it. The 9-year-old said when the phone rang while she was in the truck, the man snatched the phone from her. The girls’ father also went looking for the children after they didn’t respond.
Bowen — who eventually admitted to taking the girls — said he kidnapped them because “he wanted to scare the parents,” according to the affidavit.
He said he thought the girls were “too young to be out there on their own” and “wanted to teach the girls’ parents a lesson,” the court documents say.
“Bowen admitted that he knew what he did was wrong and further stated that he did it once and would likely do it again,” the affidavit says.
The girls’ accounts of the abduction, which included descriptions of Bowen and the pickup he drove, helped authorities track down and arrest the Wasilla man, the FBI says.
“The true heroes in this case are the two young girls who were able to provide detailed information about their abduction that led to the identification of Mr. Bowen,” an FBI statement says.
Bowen’s capture and arrest involved a multi-agency effort, including the FBI, North Pole police, Fairbanks police, University of Alaska Fairbanks police and Fort Wainwright’s Army Criminal Division and Military Police.
The FBI says it is asking for the public’s help identifying possible other victims and provided a photo of Bowen’s truck.
Courtesy FBI
–This is a developing story.
