Updated 12/15/2009 05:58 AM
Abduction suspect in custody in Florida
A man who police say abducted a woman earlier this month and tied her up in a Weedsport motel room has been arrested. Authorities say Arnold Fox was taken into custody without incident in Florida this weekend. Our Andy Mattison has details on who Fox is and how police say they found him.
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CAYUGA COUNTY, N.Y. -- A week ago, sheriff's deputies began looking for Arnold Fox after they found a 21-year-old woman bound with duct tape and with a head injury at a hotel in Weedsport. After the incident, Fox fled the area, but wasn't able to elude authorities for long. With help from the FBI, he was taken into custody over the weekend in Miami.
"We know that he used three names the first day that we started the case, so to find him this quickly, again, it goes back to cooperation and communication and cooperation between police agencies," said Cayuga County Sheriff David Gould.
After leaving Weedsport, authorities say Fox traveled to South Carolina where he has family, before making his way down to Florida. He is being held by U.S. Marshalls without bail on two federal charges of wire fraud and possessing a stolen car across state lines. It is expected that Fox will face more charges once investigators examine all the evidence gathered over the weekend.
"At some point, he'll be brought back to New York to face more than likely kidnapping charges of some sort, whether it's at the state level or the federal level," said Cayuga County Sheriff's Lieutenant Joseph Weeks.
Sheriff's deputies say one way they were able to locate Fox was because he still had the victim's car. They say they're glad they caught up with him before he did harm to anyone else.
"This woman went through pure agony for two days that we know of and possibly longer and someone else would've if we hadn't found this man," said Gould.
Fox met his victim through the internet claiming he bought and sold horses and wanted her to work on his farm. Authorities say Fox doesn't own any horses but does have a criminal background in South Carolina, but wouldn't elaborate. They also don't have a timetable for when he'll be extradited back to the area.