Man Charged with Kidnapping, Terrorizing Woman at Community College

An Elsberry man was charged last week in St. Charles County Circuit Court with kidnapping and terrorizing a woman in a Feb. 8 incident near .

Jon Paul Heinz, 22, is accused of forcing a 19-year-old woman into her car and threatening to shoot her and himself while driving around the Cottleville campus.

He also told her he would hang himself in front of her so she could watch him die.

The woman, Heinz’s former girlfriend who had broken up with him recently, tried to escape several times but Heinz restrained her, according to a St. Charles Community College Police report.

Heinz also asked her to remove her coat and clothes, according to the report. The woman told police she took off her coat, but not her clothes. He held her against her will for more than an hour. He let her out after she agreed not to tell anyone about the incident.

On Feb. 16, Heinz also locked the woman in her trunk in Lincoln County, according to a Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department news release.

The victim noticed her trunk lid open and pulled over on Summer Haven Drive. As she walked around her car, a man jumped out of her trunk wearing a bright orange sweatshirt and black ski mask. After a struggle, the suspect forced the victim into the trunk of her 2008 BMW and sped away.

Lincoln County received a 911 call from a witness residing on Summer Haven Lane who described the vehicle and a partial license plate number.

About 20 minutes later, Wright City Police advising they had the victim and she was safe. She located a release cord inside the trunk and escaped her captor at a gas station near Interstate 70 and Hwy J in Warren County.

She ran to another car where another driver took her to the Wright City Police Department.

Lincoln County Sheriff’s detectives called Heinz on his cell phone, and he said he was in Bloomington, IL. Bloomington Police arrested Heinz Feb. 16.