Missouri Man on Loose After Keeping His Girlfriend Trapped in a Box, Police Say
Police say they found a box that looks like it was made to conceal a person.
— -- A woman in Missouri called police saying her boyfriend had held her captive for the past four months and regularly forced her into a large wooden box, authorities said today.
The Sedalia Police Department is now searching for the boyfriend, identified as James Horn, as he is now believed to be on the run.
The girlfriend, whose name is being withheld by police for her protection, reportedly called 911 on Thursday and said that she had just escaped from the residence that they shared.
"When officers contacted the victim, she told them the suspect routinely locked her in a wooden box inside the residence where they lived," police said in a statement today.
Officers found "a large wooden box consistent with what the female described" and have since transported it from the scene, police said.
"It did appear to be constructed for the purpose of concealing a person," according to the police statement.
Horn is described by police as being a 47-year-old white male with dark hair.
Horn is listed as a sex offender and has previously been charged with felony kidnapping and sexual battery in Tennessee in 1992, according to state records.