CAMDEN — By KAITLYN RIGDON
El Dorado News-Times
A Junction City man who was arrested in connection with a kidnapping and rape that occurred over the weekend has reportedly confessed to the kidnapping and rape of a 61-year-old that happened last spring.
According to the Union County Sheriff’s Department, at 5 a.m. Saturday, the sheriff’s department was notified of a victim in the emergency room who had been kidnapped and raped outside of the El Dorado city limits.
The victim provided a description and first name of the suspect, who was later identified as Grant Oneal Suthrlen of Junction City, and arrested. Officials with the sheriff’s department said Suthrlen confessed to Saturday’s crime and, during an interview with detectives Monday, confessed to a similar kidnapping and rape that took place on May 27.
In May 2017, a 61-year-old woman was attacked and abducted while out for an early-morning walk. She described the assailant as a white male, approximately 30 to 35 years old, driving a small vehicle.
At the time, she said the man forced her inside his vehicle in the area of College and Eighth Street and struck her numerous times. She was taken to the area of Main Street and Madison Avenue, where she was sexually assaulted, beaten and left. Officers were called later that day by passers-by, who found the woman unresponsive behind an abandoned commercial building.
Up until Monday, the El Dorado Police Department and Union County Sheriff’s Department have not had any leads. The El Dorado Police Department was notified of Saturday’s crime because it originated in El Dorado city limits.
Capt. Jeff Stinson said the victim Saturday was contacted by Suthrlen who told her he had too much to drink and needed a ride. She was directed down a road in Union County by Suthrlen, who then said he missed the turn and needed her to turn around. When she began to turn the car around, he put the car in park, threatened her with a weapon and told her to turn the car off. He then struck her several times and sexually assaulted her.
“Through the investigation and interview with Suthrlen, a lot of the familiarities with this crime that the sheriff’s department is working, brought us to looking into the incident that happened in the city in 2017,” said Capt. Cathy Phillips. “The interview with Suthrlen had so many similarities that it was unbelievable.”
After identifying Suthrlen as the potential suspect, the sheriff’s department was able to obtain an arrest warrant. He was arrested Saturday afternoon at his residence and booked in the County Jail awaiting charges of rape, kidnapping, first-degree battery and theft of a motor vehicle.
Phillips said there will be a warrant issued to Suthrlen for the charges concerning the jogger and “he will be arrested for those on Wednesday.”
Suthrlen had his first appearance Monday. No bond was issued.
“In addition to the confession and the other elements that led us to him, there’s a lot of forensic evidence that is involved that are going to be submitted to crime lab to further bolster the case on him for both of these incidents,” Stinson said.