Amber Alert suspect in Minnesota charged with kidnapping woman and children in custody

A man charged with the armed kidnapping of a woman and her four children after allegedly killing a man in Minnesota was taken into custody Friday morning and the victims were reported safe, local and state officials said.

Chad Aanerud, 35, was arrested around 7:15 a.m. local time during a traffic stop after a white minivan was stopped in Morrison County, the Minnesota This was said by the Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and local authorities.

The county, in the east-central part of the state, is immediately south of Crow Wing County, where police said the woman and her children were taken just after 1:50 a.m. Friday.

The victims, identified by police as the man’s 33-year-old girlfriend and four children ages 3, 7, 11 and 14, were found safe in the vehicle, according to the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office, the agency that reported the family missing. , which triggered a statewide Amber Alert.

“There is no threat to the public at this time,” Sheriff Eric Klang told USA TODAY late Friday morning. “Deputies continue to investigate this matter and will provide further updates as the investigation develops.”

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A shooting, a family kidnapping and a house arson

Before the kidnapping, officials said, Aanerud allegedly shot and killed a man in a Maple Grove Township home before setting it on fire and kidnapping the five victims at gunpoint.

The sheriff’s office identified the man who was fatally shot as Lyle Maske, 62.

It was not immediately known whether the suspect knew Maske or whether Maske knew the Amber Alert victims, but police said Friday they believed the kidnapping and shooting were related.

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Minnesota Amber Alert was issued after murder and kidnapping

According to information from the sheriff’s office, the family was taken from a home where they were staying near the city city ​​of Brainerdabout 130 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

Officials said around 1:50 a.m. Friday, Aanerud arrived at the home on the 15000 block of Loerch Road where the victims were staying and fired a gun into the ceiling.

At some point, Aanered fatally shot the victim, forced the mother and her four children to leave with him in a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica, and burned down the house.

As of late Friday morning, police had not released any additional information about the murder and kidnapping.

The sheriff’s office said the shooting and kidnapping are both still under investigation.

This story has been updated to add new information.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her at X @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Amber Alert suspect arrested after wife and 4 children were kidnapped