Woman rescued; told police she had been held captive for months in a dark room

By Adam Roberts, DMM

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    PEA RIDGE, Arkansas (KHBS) — Police rescued a woman who had been held captive for months in Northwest Arkansas.

Michael Jacob Lane, 25, of Pea Ridge, stands accused of kidnapping the woman three times. She had been able to escape twice, but wasn’t found after the third kidnapping until Wednesday, when police searched a house in Rogers.

First Kidnapping

Lane is accused of kidnapping the woman for the first time earlier this year.

The woman was able to escape Lane when he tried to force her into a vehicle in West Siloam Springs, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

The woman contacted police, who arrested Lane. He bonded out of jail.

This happened on March 20, 2023, three months after the woman was first reported missing.

Second Kidnapping

A few months later, Lane took the woman to his house on Cherry Street in Pea Ridge and locked her in a room with the lights off, she told police after her final rescue.

Lane kept her there for months, threatening her if she tried to leave, made noise, turned on a light or tried to contact anyone, she said. He told her he would keep her there until after his trial for the West Siloam Springs kidnapping charge so she couldn’t testify against him.

The woman spent the months listening for a chance to escape the house.

Finally, on Sept. 16, 2023, the woman ran out the back door and hid in a neighbor’s yard, according to the affidavit. She heard Lane call out for her to come back, but she was able to escape.

The woman made it to the EZ Mart in Pea Ridge and eventually made her way to a women’s shelter. She called her mother to tell her what had happened. The woman didn’t report the kidnapping to police because she was afraid of what Lane would do.

Third Kidnapping

The woman remained hidden until Sept. 29, 2023. That day, she met an acquaintance of Lane who took her back to the house on Cherry Street.

The woman’s mother worried when she didn’t show up to a church function the next day they had planned to attend together.

Nine days later, the woman decided to risk it and contact police.

On Oct. 10, police and deputies searched the house and Pea Ridge as well as a house in Bella Vista where the woman’s phone had pinged.

They didn’t locate anyone at either home, but found several items in the Pea Ridge house, including a note written on a paper plate. It read:

“I want access to music choices. Is that too much to ask? I’m so bored and going crazy in the silence that’s when the [expletive] up thoughts get too loud to drown out, so I have to give in to them.”

They also found a note on the kitchen table that read:

“Hey bro we are just trying to drop off [the woman’s] stuff I know you like to beat her and tie her up and hold her against her will just know whatever you do to her will happen to u.”

Neighbors told police said they saw different vehicles at the house at all hours of the night. One neighbor saw two men come out from the house carrying a large black garbage bag, which they put into a red vehicle.

On Oct. 11, police traced Lane’s phone to an address on Crawford Point Road in Rogers.

Law enforcement went to the home, where they found Lane and the woman.

They arrested Lane on two counts of kidnapping, one count of intimidating a witness and three drug charges.

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