This news story was updated at 9 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A 22-year-old man abducted from Centralia on Friday was located this afternoon at a hotel in Olympia.
Max Cross was uninjured, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
Max Cross
Cross told sheriff’s detectives he was taken at knife-point by 24-year-old Seth T. Lloyd and two other unidentified males very early Friday morning from a residence on the 300 block of Big Hanaford Road, according to the sheriff’s office.
Lloyd, who was booked into jail on Friday night, was charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with one count of second-degree kidnapping.
The sheriff’s office says deputies believe the abduction occurred over a debt.
Both men are described as transient and living in Centralia.
The investigation is ongoing, according to the sheriff’s office.
A second man was also arrested Friday and initially suspected to be involved but new information today indicated he was not present during the kidnapping, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead said this afternoon.
However, that man, Calvin C. Reece Jr., 38, of Centralia, was charged this afternoon with first-degree robbery, in connection with an incident that allegedly occurred later Friday morning in Vader.
Seth T. Lloyd
Charging documents give the following account of what deputies learned when they responded to a disturbance about 1:30 a.m. on Friday:
Cross and his girlfriend were staying a few days with Matthew Odle on Big Hanaford Road. The girlfriend overheard a phone conversation Cross had with two males, and she could hear them yelling through the phone.
At about 1 a.m. as they were watching television, a mini van came into the trailer park and stopped at Odle’s home.
Cross yelled at his girlfriend to hide and she did.
She said she heard a voice she believed to be Lloyd state, “What no money?” and “Empty your pockets.”
Odle told deputies the two males grabbed both of Cross’s arms, pushed him into the van and sped away.
Odle identified Lloyd and Reece through photographs as the two men involved.
Deputies found Lloyd about 7:25 p.m. the same day at Hill Krees Avenue (sp) in Centralia where he ran, but was eventually apprehended. Lloyd denied kidnapping Cross, but admitted being with him earlier that morning.
Details about where Cross was taken were not included in the charging documents.
Calvin C. Reece Jr.
The documents give the following account of deputies’ pursuit of Reece:
Deputies got information on Friday Reece was at Coma Road in Vader, and when they arrived, they saw Reece standing in the driveway with a large combat knife. He was taken into custody.
The resident of the home, Earl Sisk, told deputies Reece is a “shirt tail” relative and had been dropped off that morning by two males.
Sisk said Reece approached him with the six-inch-bladed knife and demanded he get him a firearm, and money and provide him transportation out of the area.
Sisk said Reece came inside and began demanding various items of value such as a battery charger, chainsaw chains and DVDs.
Sisk said he was able to get Reece outside in hopes a passerby would call 911. Then deputies arrived.
Reece was charged this afternoon with first-degree robbery. His bail was set at $100,000.
Odle was also in court, charged with unlawful possession of a firearm for allegedly having a gun in his hand and another on his hip during the events of Friday night.
Lloyd was represented in court this afternoon by defense attorney Bob Schroeter who told the court Lloyd had “only tangential involvement if anything.”
Judge James Lawler set his bail at $100,000.
Lloyd’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.
Join us