Authorities investigate alleged abduction

GRANGEVILLE, Idaho – U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors say they are looking at bringing federal counts against two men each facing a state charge of first-degree kidnapping in the alleged abduction of a Lapwai woman on the Nez Perce Indian reservation.

The men were arrested outside the reservation by Idaho County sheriff’s deputies after the woman managed to escape.

Arnold Scott, 53, and Gerald Bainbridge, 44, are being held on $1 million bond each in the Idaho County Jail, awaiting a preliminary hearing Friday in Magistrate Court on the state charges, which carry a minimum penalty of life imprisonment and a maximum penalty of death.

At the hearing, evidence gathered by county prosecutors will be presented to a judge to determine if the men, who have no fixed address according to court records, should be bound over to District Court for trial.

Sheriff’s officers say they believe the men offered the woman a ride home from a Lapwai bar on the reservation on the night of April 22, then sexually assaulted her and bound her with duct tape inside a motorhome.

She escaped the next morning and alerted authorities from a cafe near White Bird, about 75 miles south of Lapwai.

The men were arrested April 23 near White Bird.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci Whelan in Coeur d’Alene said the Justice Department, which has federal law enforcement responsibility on Indian reservations, is investigating the allegations.

“We are aware of the case and we are looking at it for possible charges,” she said Friday, declining further comment because the case is under investigation.

Idaho County Prosecutor Kirk MacGregor said Friday the state’s case against the men will “wait in the wings” until federal authorities decide whether they will bring charges.