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A Santa Clara man who has been missing for more than a week was assaulted in his home and then kidnapped by the mother of his child and her friend, according to charges filed Thursday against the two suspects.
David Corey Heisler — whose whereabouts are still unknown — was forced into his own car on June 27 and driven to "an undisclosed location," charging documents in 5th District Court in Washington County say.
The 30-year-old man was reported missing that day by his father, and blood was found in the house, the documents say. In addition, investigators with the Santa Clara-Ivins Police Department have said some items were missing from the home.
Francis Lee McCard, 55, and Kelley Marie Perry, 31, both of Washington City, who were arrested Tuesday, are each charged with first-degree felony counts of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated burglary, and second-degree felony car theft.
McCard is being held without bail. Perry's bail is set at $100,000, cash-only. At an initial court appearance Thursday, Judge Eric Ludlow appointed each defendant a public defender and set their next hearing for July 18.
Heisler and Perry are the parents of a 6-year-old girl, and court records show the two have been battling in court over custody and other issues for years.
They were in court again for a hearing on June 13, when 5th District Judge G. Michael Westfall awarded sole custody of the child to Heisler and ordered that Perry's parenting time continue to be supervised.
Heisler and his daughter had been living with his father and stepmother, and he apparently was the only one home at the time of the alleged kidnapping. Debbie Heisler, Heisler's stepmother, filed a petition June 30 in 5th District Court seeking custody of the girl.
Charging documents say the two defendants both admit that Perry knocked on the door of the home, and McCard pushed Heisler aside when he answered and assaulted him.
"Kelley Perry then took David Heisler's vehicle and, together with Frank McCard, forced David into his vehicle and drove away," charging documents allege. "Frank McCard and Kelley Perry then took David Heisler to an undisclosed location."
Perry was dropped off someplace near the Utah-Arizona border and Heisler was last seen with McCard, according to the charging documents.
Heisler's 2002 Saturn was found on July 1 abandoned in Beaver Dam, Ariz., an unincorporated community in Mohave County in the northwestern corner of the state. McCard allegedly admitted taking the car to Arizona and leaving it there.
"There was blood on the exterior of the vehicle and a bullet casing inside the vehicle," charging documents say.
Court records show Perry, who also is known as Kelley Burch, also has charges of second-degree possession or use of a controlled substance and class A misdemeanor use or possession of drug paraphernalia pending in 5th District Court. She is scheduled for a resolution hearing on Aug. 15 in that case.
Charging documents say a St. George police officer investigating a report in February 2015 of three females fighting near 700 S. Main St. spoke with Perry, who said she had been in a verbal argument with a mother and daughter about "who was using the car." The officer said in a probable cause statement that Perry "appeared very jittery and had a hard time standing still."
"She was also grinding her teeth together so much that I could hear it from about 5 feet away," the officer said.
The officer said he searched Perry's purse with her permission, found a makeup container with methamphetamine in it and arrested her on enhanced charges because she was within 1,000 feet of Dixie High School, which is a drug-free zone.
The FBI, Mojave County Sheriff's Department and the Bureau of Land Management are assisting in the investigation of Heisler's disappearance.
A GoFundMe page was set up Saturday seeking help in finding Heisler and keeping his daughter with her grandparents.
Anyone who knows Heisler's whereabouts is asked to contact the Washington County dispatch or the Santa Clara Ivins Police Department at 435-634-5730.
Twitter: @PamelaManson