GUN BARREL CITY, Texas – An 18-year-old was charged Wednesday in the abduction of a woman who spent 16 hours in an abandoned well after being taken from her home and beaten, Henderson County Sheriff officials said.
Joshua James Cannon of the Gun Barrel City area was arraigned Wednesday on charges of aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault in the case.
The 63-year-old woman was found Friday, 16 hours after her attacker tossed her into the well. She was found hours after the suspect had been stopped in her car.
Cannon was arrested Friday night on charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Cannon remained in jail on Wednesday evening on bonds totaling $168,000. An attorney was not listed for him, a jail official said.
Relatives of the victim became concerned Friday afternoon when they couldn't find her. They checked her cell phone and found a message from Seagoville police, who said a car registered to her had been impounded after its driver was stopped for reckless driving.
The woman's family then reported her missing and began searching the rural area about 55 miles southeast of Dallas.
The sheriff's department said a search led to the discovery of the woman in a 20-foot-deep well with some water in it a couple miles from her house.
The woman was treated for a broken nose, bruises and dehydration. She told the Tyler Morning Telegraph that the abduction began early Friday morning when she had arrived home just after midnight and answered her door.
She said that the man told her his truck had broken down and asked if to use the phone. After he made the call, he returned minutes later with a rifle and forced his way in.
The woman said the suspect forced her to drive with him in her car. After driving around for awhile, the man forced her out of the car at gunpoint. Then she was thrown into the well.
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