Pikeville abduction suspect arrested
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on July 16, 2010 1:46 PM
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Earl Travis Deans Sr.
PIKEVILLE -- A Pikeville area man is accused of holding a female victim against her will after she was found with bruises to her body and burns on her face, the Sheriff's Office says.
Earl Travis Deans Sr., 34, of Little Drove Road, was being held under a $90,000 secured bond after authorities responded to his home on Wednesday, Detective Lt. Carl Lancaster reported.
Detectives said deputies arrived at a neighbor's home after an emergency call came through.
The woman was found with her head shaved, in addition to the burns, which Capt. Tom Effler said were purposefully inflicted.
"He burned her with a curling iron and assaulted her," the captain said of the crime. "She was brutalized, she went through a tough time and was fortunate to get away."
Deans apparently learned of the investigation and tried to hide from authorities, the captain said. Deputies later found him hiding under equipment in a barn near his home.
"He was trying to elude arrest, and they were able to track him down and find him," the captain said.
On investigation at Deans' house, they found evidence that the woman had been locked in a closet with her feet and hands secured with telephone wire, the captain said.
The pair had had a relationship in the past, Effler said, living together for a period of time.
Deans faces charges of second-degree kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.
According to the Sheriff's Office, he also faces four charges of driving while license revoked, operating a vehicle without insurance and domestic assault on a female. He was also charged with two counts of failure to pay child support, the arrest reports show.