Two men charged in violent kidnapping case, one man remains a fugitive

On July 28, two men were charged in federal court for kidnapping a woman who was rescued from her attackers at a Neosho, Missouri, hotel room. Freddie Lewis Tilton, 47, of Joplin, Missouri, and Alvin Dale Boyer, 35, of Rogers, Arkansas, were charged in the U.S. District Court in Springfield, Missouri.  

Tilton – pictured on left – was arrested at a Joplin residence yesterday. He was taken into custody after shooting at Newton County Sheriff’s deputies who were executing a state search warrant in an unrelated case. Officers responded with tear gas and there were no injuries. 

Tilton is scheduled to appear in court today. He’ll remain in federal custody pending a detention hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

The woman had a protection order against Tilton who, despite two decades worth of felony convictions, was free on $1,000 bond while awaiting trial on drug trafficking and weapons charges in Jasper County Circuit Court. ~ The Turner Report

Boyer remains a fugitive.  His online record reveals that he had been arrested in Arkansas back in June and charged with aggravated assault and terroristic threatening, both felonies.

The federal criminal complaint levied against the two alleges that Tilton and Boyer kidnapped the victim, identified in court documents as “S.T.,” on July 19, 2020.

According to the complaint, an employee at Boonslick Lodge in Neosho, Missouri, called police at approximately 11:50 p.m. on July 19, 2020, to report that a woman was being choked and dragged into a room. A police officer knocked on the door of the room, and S.T., bloody and injured, opened the door and ran out of the room. Tilton had climbed out the back window and escaped.

S.T. told investigators she had arrived at the hotel to meet Boyer (who had rented the room) but found Tilton waiting for her. S.T. had separated from Tilton and had an order of protection against him. When she found Tilton in the room, she told investigators that she tried to leave, but was dragged back in by Tilton.

She had a Walther 9mm handgun in her waistband but lost it during the struggle. Tilton picked up the handgun and used it to strike her. At one point, S.T. made it to the door but was dragged back inside by Tilton. Tilton had the handgun with him when he climbed out the hotel room window. Tilton attempted to climb down a vertical rain gutter, the affidavit says, but fell to the ground as the guttering broke then ran away.

Officers searched the hotel room and found numerous indications that a violent, physical struggle had taken place inside the room, in addition to blood on the room floor and door.

Inside the hotel room, officers found a chair with rope and zip ties attached, more nylon rope and zip ties, duct tape, a pair of pliers, a blowtorch and lighter fluid, drop cloths, a Taurus 9mm handgun, and a Kimber .223-caliber semi-automatic rifle.

The female victim was transported to a hospital for treatment of her injuries.

Cover photos: Freddie Lewis Tilton (left) and Alvin Dale Boyer (right)
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Missouri

~  Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter