Stevens County man says neighbor left him to die in a swamp

A 69-year-old man who struggles to walk and breathe without an oxygen tank alleges his neighbor left him to die in a swamp, forcing him to survive on pond water for more than two days, according to the Stevens County Sheriff’s Office.

The neighbor, John L. Price Jr., 55, faces charges of kidnapping and attempted murder, though many details of the case are unclear.

Sheriff’s deputies found Ralph Roberts shouting for help at the bottom of a ravine on the night of July 22, after his landlord called authorities concerned about his safety, according to court records.

The landlord told deputies he hadn’t seen Roberts in a few days, the doors to his house were left open and Roberts’ dog was outside, which was unusual. The sheriff’s office, in a Facebook post Tuesday, said Roberts’ vehicles “appeared to have been ransacked.”

While searching the residence, which sits in a mountainous area west of the towns of Valley and Springdale, deputies heard faint calls for help and ventured down a mountainside to investigate, according to court records. They found Roberts “shivering and covered in scrapes” and unable to walk or crawl.

Roberts told deputies he had been in the woods since the evening of July 20, when Price and Price’s teenage son visited. Price told Roberts he “wanted to show him something” at his house, and Price and his son held Roberts’ arms to assist him in walking, Roberts told deputies.

“Ralph said they took him way out into the woods and he did not know where they were at,” court records state. “John and his son just left him there. He said he pleaded with them to come back but they did not. He said he asked them why they were doing this to him but they would not answer.”

Roberts told deputies that darkness closed in that night and he didn’t have a flashlight. He said he had tried crawling out of the area but lost energy and began calling for help, hoping someone would find him.

Asked why Price would do such a thing, Roberts told deputies he had hired Price’s son to help him with various tasks around the house. Roberts said the boy “did not do a good job” at washing the dishes, and Price got involved when Roberts refused to pay the boy $10 an hour, according to court records.

Roberts’ landlord told deputies Price was “always hard up for money,” and court records suggest Price was going after Roberts’ nest egg, though Price told deputies his family was doing fine financially and building a new house.

Price denied having anything to do with Roberts’ disappearance. Court records indicate he had called local hospitals looking for Roberts, and once checked out Roberts’ house with the landlord.

Court records don’t indicate that anything was stolen from Roberts’ home, though they mention a previous incident in which someone stole a bag from Roberts containing $2,000 in cash at the grocery store in Springdale. The bag was later returned to Roberts. The cash was not.

Roberts received medical attention after the deputies found him.

Price was arrested the next day. He was arraigned on Aug. 3 and remained in the Stevens County Jail on Tuesday. His attorney did not respond to a message seeking comment.