Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-06-05
0TTUMW AN
KIDNAPPED
A. M. BoYcE is DRueeED AND
LEFT FOR DEAD BY THE
ROAD SIDE.
SON IS ALSO MISSING
Disappearance of Younger Man from
Kansas Home May Have connec.
tion With Attack on Father-Latter
Was Taken from His Home Friday
Night - Awoke Near Bloomfield

From Mondays Daily.
kidnapped In the early part of the ev-
enlng from in front Of his own home
and driven through the streets of Of
tumWa and on nearly to Bloomfield,
where he was left for dead, was the
terrible experience of A. M. Boyce, an
elderly and well known real estate
man of this CITY, He was taken away
Friday night by two strangers and not
until Sunday morning did he recover
sufficiently to tell the story Of his re-
markable adventure.
When seen this morning by repre-
sentative of the Courier Mr.. Boyce was
IN very serious condition and was not
able to talk about his weird expert
ence. Mrs. Boyce, however, told his
story as he had told 1t to members of
his family again and again.
According to Mrs Boyce the story
Is most remarkable one and reads
more like a page of fiction than like
the true history of an event occurring
In this twentieth century in we'll po-
Iced city.
Was Looking For House.
Friday evening about Z o'clock Mr..
Boyce left his home in the Central
block on Church street, and went to
the Neff grocery store in the same
building. Arman drove up in spring
wagon and stopped in front of the
store. This man is described as being
short and heavy set and having red
or sandy mustache. He approached
Mr.. Boyce and asked him II he had a
house to rent. As sMr. Boyce is a real
estate agent this question seemed per.
fectly natural and SO did the request
that followed it.
Mr.. Bcyce stated that he had q
house on Ferry street, and then the
stranger asked him to get into the
| wagon and go over and look at it. AS
soon as Boyce was in the wagon the
man drove off down Church street to
Ward street, where he turned south
Mr.. Boyce demonstrated, saying that
he was going the wrong way. But the
stranger said that he had a friend
whose wife wanted to see the house
and he was going after her. This also
seemed plausible to the Ottumwa man
! Turning down Wilson street, they
drove to the outskirts of the city
where the houses are very few. At this
place there was a man standing and he
said, Here l am" The buggy
stopped and the man got in.
| MIR. Boyce Becomes Alarmed.
However, when the wagon was moi
turned around in the proper direction
after having taken on the second pas
senger, Mr.. Boyce became alarmed and
ordered his captors, as he now per
ceived them to be, to return with him
or at least to let him out. Drawing 9
revolver, one of the strangers refused
to release him and ordered him to keeI
quiet.
Very soon they presented what ap
peared to be a two ounce vial filled
with brown or reddish liquid and or
dered Mr.. Boyce to drink it. This he
did, when threatened with the revol
yer.
Loses Consciousness.
Soon after taking the drink Mr.
Boyce began to lose consciousness ant
was placed in the bed of the wago1
and covered with quilt. That is the
! last he remembers until he wal
| thrown from the wagon at a spot OF
Fox creek, about a mile or more nortt
of Bloomfield. There the shock of the
1 fall produced a glimmering of con
sciousness and he heard his captort
/ talking. One of them said: eve have
finished the contract according to the
letter."
Mr.. Boyce lay where he was thrown
all the remainder of the night and die
not fully recover consciousness unit
Saturday morning. It is Mrs. Boyce's
opinion that his captors thought hin
dead when they threw him from the
wagon.
The bruises which cover his bacl
bear witness to his rough treatment
/