An employee at former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Colorado ranch was kidnapped at gunpoint this week and taken to Wyoming before authorities found them at a motel and arrested the gunman.
Joseph Beecher, 48, will face kidnapping, felony menacing, and other charges in Colorado, plus charges in Wyoming. He’s being held without bail in Wyoming.
The woman, who is not being named, was found safe and has been reunited with her family, according to KUSA.
The Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office said that so far, there’s no indication that Beecher had any connection with either the woman or the Bloombergs. He was, however, in possession of multiple firearms when he was arrested.
The sheriff’s office said Beecher reportedly abducted the woman Wednesday morning, forcing her into her Ford F-150 pickup truck just before noon. Investigators said he took her to several stops in the Denver area before driving to Wyoming Wednesday evening.
Federal and local authorities located them at the Stagecoach Motel in Cheyenne, and a Cheyenne Police Department SWAT team made the arrest around midnight.
Bloomberg, a former presidential candidate, bought the 4,600-acre ranch in the White River Valley in 2020 for $45 million, Business Insider reported. A spokesman for Bloomberg issued a statement thanking law enforcement “for their swift and heroic action in this case in ensuring that no lives were lost and that the victim has been rescued and safely returned to her family.”
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[Featured image: FILE – Michael Bloomberg in 2018/AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool and Joseph Beecher/Laramie County Sheriff’s Office]
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