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Fredonia Man Charged After California Kidnapping

A Fredonia man may be facing federal charges after being apprehended in connection to a kidnapping incident involving a teenager that crossed the state lines of California and Nevada last week.

According to the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office in California, deputies responded to the Happy Camp, Calif., area July 8 to investigate a report of a missing 14-year-old girl. The investigation revealed the missing teenager may have left the area with Patrick James Montross, 20, who was visiting the area from Western New York. The teenager and male adult were suspected to be traveling in his vehicle.

Investigators there took a missing persons report and due to the circumstances of her disappearance, classified her status as “endangered” and reported exploitation of the youth was suspected. The investigating deputy and a detective from the Major Crimes Unit immediately began developing investigative leads and a regional and then national “be on the lookout” broadcast was disseminated to all law enforcement agencies.

Various investigative methods were used to locate the missing teenager and the adult suspect, including the crime unit detective contacting various law enforcement agencies along the suspected route of travel. On Thursday, investigators received news that a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper, after reading the broadcast for the missing teen spotted the suspect vehicle traveling near Elko, Nev. The vehicle was stopped, and the driver and passenger detained.

It was learned that the suspect in the disappearance of the teenager, Montross, who is also known as Montross-Yunghans, was present along with the missing teenager. The Nevada Highway Patrol, the Siskiyou County Sheriff and later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, both agents from the Redding, Calif., and Elko, Nevada FBI offices, assisted with the investigation.

Montross was charged and as the investigation progressed, it was learned he was implicated in additional law violations suspected to have been committed in Nevada and California. Sheriff’s Department investigators are continuing the investigation and it is anticipated that state and federal charges will be filed for a number of charges in the near future, along with crime-related charges he faces in Nevada.

According to Sheriff Jon Lopey, “SCSO investigators are working with the Siskiyou County District Attorney’s Office to obtain an arrest warrant for Mr. Montross for law violations he is suspected to have committed in California. He may face additional federal charges.

“We are very relieved the teenager is safe. … I would like to take this opportunity to thank the SCSO investigators, SCSO leaders, SCSO Dispatch operators, NHP troopers, FBI Agents, and District Attorney for assisting with this important case. Their efforts helped to return a 14-year-old teenager safely home to her family. There is still work to be done and anyone with information about this case is urged to contact the SCSO’s 24-hour Dispatch Center at (530) 841-2900.”

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