Excelsior Springs police to begin evidence review in kidnapping, rape case after search
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Excelsior Springs, Missouri kidnapping, rape case
A woman who escaped captivity in an Excelsior Springs home had been raped repeatedly while being kept in a room designed to hold her hostage since sometime in early September, according to court documents. Timothy M. Haslett, 39, is facing kidnapping and rape charges in the case.
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Authorities said they will begin to examine the large amount of evidence gathered from the home of Timothy M. Haslett Jr., an Excelsior Springs man accused of kidnapping and rape, as they determine whether he may have committed other crimes.
Excelsior Springs Police Chief Gregory Dull said in a statement Sunday that law enforcement continued to serve a search warrant at the home of Timothy M. Haslett, a 39-year-old man who was charged Friday and booked in the Clay County jail.
“Numerous items have been recovered from the residence and the process of examining and evaluating those items will begin this week, to determine if any other crimes may have been committed,” Dull wrote Sunday, again thanking the community for its patience.
Police tape remained around the yard and perimeter of the home Sunday evening, though authorities re-opened the roads to traffic. That came after law enforcement from local and state agencies, along with the FBI, began assisting with a massive effort to thoroughly investigate the home and a man who neighbors say has lived there for several years.
On Saturday, as police sorted through numerous items in the residence in what Dull called “a slow, painstaking process.” He said additional charges were possible if more evidence of crimes was uncovered.
It all began early Friday morning when police were called to the 300 block of Old Orchard Street to investigate a reported sexual assault and kidnapping. It quickly became apparent to police that the victim had been held at the residence for a substantial amount of time, authorities have said.
Neighbors have reported that the woman appeared malnourished and abused, and was heard screaming as she ran to the home of another person down the road for help.
Haslett was arrested Friday morning outside the home and has remained in law enforcement custody since. Clay County prosecutors have charged him with single counts of first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault.
Suspense has run high among many neighbors and throughout the suburban Kansas City community as crime scene personnel have carried away bags upon bags of physical evidence from the house, loading them into police vehicles. A cadaver dog — a canine trained specifically to track the missing and dead — was also brought out to examine the yard and Haslett’s truck, though police have yet to disclose any further findings.
On Saturday evening, town residents gathered under a large monument cross in Siloam Mountain Park for a prayer vigil, calling for the community to heal, for the victim to recover and for law enforcement to be supported during the investigation.
This story was originally published October 9, 2022 at 6:59 PM.
