Independence police see sharp rise in online sexual hookups gone bad

A lonely guy logs on.

He sees a woman on his computer or phone screen and dials the listed number.

As they talk, he agrees to her instructions to knock on a certain door in Independence at a certain time. The woman later opens it and lets him in, and then excuses herself to visit the restroom.

Then gunmen appear. They rob the lonely guy and assault him as well.

Independence police investigators say they’ve noticed a spike in such online romantic rendezvous gone bad, with about 20 reported in the last six months. All of them have involved men seeking sex with women or men who end up robbed of their wallets and cellphones, and then sometimes beaten.

“We are warning people about the dangers of such encounters,” said John Syme, an Independence police spokesman. “We want this to stop.”

Independence police placed a warning on the department’s Facebook page earlier this year, yet the incidents have continued, Syme said.

On Oct. 24, police responded to a call at a northeast Independence apartment tower. A man had been assaulted after reporting to a specific apartment, Syme said.

Victims have arranged the hookups on a variety of websites, including Craigslist. Most of the Independence incidents have occurred in two areas: near the intersection of U.S. 24 and Missouri 291 — where the Oct. 24 incident occurred — and near the intersection of Interstate 70 and Noland Road, where several motels are located.

After reporting the robberies, many of the victims grew hesitant with investigators, Syme said, either out of embarrassment or fear that a significant other would learn of the incident.

“We’ve had people report the incident out of shock and then get a little shy once we start asking questions,” Syme said.

Although some victims thought they were buying sex, others believed they were making a genuine romantic connection, Syme said.

Detectives investigating the set-ups have started by checking to see who rented a particular apartment or booked a certain motel room, Syme said.

“That’s part of the reason our detectives are confident of successful prosecutions in these incidents,” he said.

Police departments in Liberty, Raytown and Independence have begun offering their lobbies or parking lots as safe places to complete other kinds of transactions initiated online. Last year, gunmen shot and robbed a Liberty couple when they went to an arranged spot in southeast Kansas City to examine a car advertised on Craigslist.

But police departments don’t offer safe areas for sexual transactions.

Independence investigators think two separate groups could be working to convince residents to meet them in random motel rooms and apartments. By alerting residents, police want to reduce the pool of vulnerable victims.

Detectives think still other instances have gone unreported. But they want those victims to come forward, too, to help investigators.

“Nobody will get in trouble for coming forward,” Syme said.

“We want to get the bad guys.”

This story was originally published November 15, 2015 at 5:10 PM.