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Utah County sheriff's deputies arrested five adults and a juvenile over the weekend after a teenage girl was allegedly abducted and a man stabbed in a gang-related dispute over a debt. More arrests were anticipated.
Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon said the investigation was continuing Monday into specifics about the case, which began with a search in the Orem area for the missing girl early Sunday morning.
Interviews with several people led to discovery of an abandoned vehicle — in which the girl had been seen — near a West Mountain canal, just west of Payson and Spanish Fork, about 7:40 a.m. Sunday.
About two-and-a-half hours later, Orem police responded to a 911 call reporting a 42-year-old man bleeding from multiple stab wounds. He was taken to the hospital in serious condition.
Subsequently, Cannon said, investigators confirmed the girl had indeed been kidnapped, allegedly on behalf of the man who had been found stabbed.
"The 17-year-old girl had, in fact, been held against her will for several hours. Investigators learned that there was a debt of some kind owed to the stabbing victim. He is reported to have held the [girl] against her will while two other men went to collect on the debt," Cannon stated.
No only were the men unsuccessful in collecting the money, but friends of the girl arrived at the automobile repair shop where she was being held and attacked the suspected kidnapping mastermind.
However, during the fight, other suspects took the girl again, driving throughout Utah County before eventually releasing her in Vineyard, near Interstate 15 and Geneva Road. The girl was unharmed and returned to her family after questioning.
In addition to the 42-year-old stabbing victim, two adult males, ages 27 and 20; two adult females, 21 and 18; and a 17-year-old juvenile are arrested on suspicion of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault and evidence tampering to obstruction of justice.
Cannon said all of the suspect resided in the Orem-Provo area.
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