On Sunday, April 16, 2023 at about 11:33 a.m., Willamette Valley Communications Center (dispatch) received a 911 call from an aunt who advised her niece, Ms. Mary Stone, had called her from a blocked phone number and advised she and her 3-year-old son were kidnapped by her ex. The rest of the communication was via text messaging, believed to be from Ms. Stone’s ex, which included messages to deliver $500 to him or he would hurt Ms. Stone. The text messaging also advised to not include law enforcement or he would “really hurt” Ms. Stone and tell her aunt where she could find the body. It was also reported the ex had a handgun and would not go back to prison.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office notified surrounding agencies of this event, to include the vehicle they were in. The meet location to receive the extorted $500 was the gas station at the Spirit Mountain Casino. As the involved vehicle, the ex, Ms. Stone and the 3-year-old child were waiting in the back parking lot of the gas station, three unmarked Sheriff’s Office vehicles were staged in an adjacent parking lot. Casino Security assisted with surveillance by watching the vehicle and advised the male from the vehicle had left Ms. Stone and the child in the vehicle and went into the store.
The Sheriff’s Office apprehended the ex, when he was separated from Ms. Stone and her child, as he was coming out of the store. The Grand Ronde Tribal Police assisted by working with Casino Security and their agency for interviews. Ms. Stone provided consent to search her vehicle for weapons, where she advised a “BB” gun was in a bag in the backseat. The Sheriff’s Office seized a replica handgun from that bag. No additional firearms were located during the search.
Initially Ms. Stone advised the ex kidnapped her and her child outside the city of Dallas on Saturday, in the afternoon, by using a handgun. The statement she provided was objectively proven to be false and there was no evidence the ex was involved with attempting to extort money from her aunt. The 3-year-old child was released to family and Child Protective Services were notified of this event.
Ms. Stone was arrested for extortion, coercion, disorderly conduct in the second degree and initiating a false report.
