Cops: Man out on bond in beating of wife has kidnapped her again

August 30, 2016 By The Associated Press

Kevin Lee Ewing, left, leaves with one of his attorneys after a preliminary hearing with District Judge Jay Weller in Canonsburg, Pa., July 26, 2016. (Credit: AP)

A man free on bond while awaiting trial on charges he abducted and beat his wife while holding her captive for nearly two weeks earlier this summer kidnapped her again Tuesday and is on the run, state police said.

Kevin Ewing, 47, abducted his wife, Tierne, at gunpoint at about 12:30 a.m. from a residence in West Finley Township, about 50 miles southwest of Pittsburgh along the West Virginia border.

A car the couple was believed to be riding in was found abandoned in a wooded area of West Finley at about 9 a.m. Troopers got a warrant to search the car but wouldn't immediately say what they found, said Trooper Stefani Lucas, a state police spokeswoman.

Troopers weren't sure whether the couple was now on foot or got into another vehicle, Lucas said.

Ewing had been wearing an electronic ankle bracelet to confine him to his home since he posted $100,000 bail on the earlier charges July 11.

According to county adult probation officials, such devices can be programmed to provide GPS information but only if the court orders that. That wasn't ordered in Ewing's case, so his bracelet merely sends out a signal to authorities if he's left the house, they said.

Ewing was accused earlier of keeping his wife captive from June 26 to July 8.

Tierne Ewing, 48, had told authorities he beat and pistol-whipped her, spat on her, kept her hands tied with wire and branded her legs with a piece of hot metal, according to a criminal complaint charging him with kidnapping, aggravated assault, terroristic threats, false imprisonment and other crimes.

Tierne Ewing had staples closing a cut on her head — a home remedy, not hospital-administered — that she told police was caused when her husband hit her with a wooden gun stock. She had also been locked in a closet, police said.

Tierne Ewing escaped when her husband sent her into a credit union to withdraw money and she told tellers she was being held against her will and feared that her husband would kill her, the complaint said.

Bank officials called police, who found Kevin Ewing in the parking lot with a rifle, handgun and a knife, the complaint said.

Washington County District Attorney Eugene Vittone said his office had asked a judge to keep Ewing in jail after he unexpectedly posted bail last month. Prosecutors were concerned because of the seriousness of the charges, Vittone said.

But the judge allowed Ewing to remain free at home with the ankle bracelet.

State police warned Tuesday that Ewing should be considered armed and dangerous. His attorney said he didn't know where Ewing would have gone but was hoping for a good outcome.

"We just pray for everyone's safe return," Benjamin Goodwin told The Associated Press.

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