In what sounds like a really bad movie script, a six-year-old boy’s own family conspired to have him kidnapped to teach him a lesson about safety. Reported, the boy is too nice to strangers and in anticipation of bringing “stranger danger” home, the kidnapping plan was formed.
Accused of being part of the plan are the child’s own mother, 25-year-old Elizabeth Hupp, his 58-year-old grandmother, Rose Brewer, a 38-year-old aunt named Denise Kroutil, and a friend by the name of Nathan Wynn Firoved, aged 23.
The story unfolds in Lincoln County, Missouri where the boy’s aunt approached a co-worker (Firoved) to kidnap the six-year-old boy in an effort to scare him. The aunt stated that he was too nice to strangers and the goal was to show him that he needed to be more careful in who he spoke to, this according to the sheriff’s department in Lincoln County.
After going over details and hatching a plan, Firoved supposedly lured the child into his truck this past Monday. Once inside, the boy’s hands and feet were bound with plastic bags and his face covered. Firoved told the child he would never again see his mother and that he was going to be nailed to the wall inside a shed.
As imagined, the small child started to cry at which time Firoved presented a handgun, telling the boy if he did not stop crying he would be hurt. Eventually, Firoved drove the boy to the mother’s home where he was escorted into the basement area of the home.
At that point, Kroutil removed the boy’s pants, telling him he was going to be turned into a sex slave. However, when the child did not react or try to resist, this angered her. At some time, the boy was untied and taken upstairs where he had to endure a long four-hour lecture about “stranger danger”.
Once at school, the boy told officials what happened, who immediately contacted the Division of Family Services. While the child was put in protective custody, police were summoned to start the investigation his claims.
Investigators on the case stated that the family members of the boy and co-worker were merely trying to educate the child. They also stated they felt they had not done anything inappropriate.
For what they thought was a “good idea”, Brewer, Kroutil, and Firoved have all been charged with multiple felonies to include kidnapping, restraint, and abuse and neglect of a child. For Hupp’s role, she was also charged with felony crimes of kidnapping and abuse and neglect of a child. All four individuals are still in custody and each held on a $250,000 bond.