Excelsior Springs neighbors await answers as home is sealed where kidnap victim escaped

Update: Court documents filed Tuesday described details of the allegations against Timothy M. Haslett and victim’s account of being held captive. That story is posted here.

The Excelsior Springs home where authorities and neighbors say a woman escaped after being held captive was boarded up and fenced off Monday as many in the community await answers about the case.

“All sorts of stories are floating around here. Nobody knows exactly what’s going on for sure,” said Tim Grover, whose house is less than a block from the crime scene. “Except that the guy’s locked up, and the lady is back with her family. And I hope she’s doing well.”

The narrow road Grover lives on has a head-on view at the top of the hill to the front of the home in the 300 block of Old Orchard lane. For three days, law enforcement from local police and several other agencies conducted a large search that brought crime scene personnel out in steady shifts to this neighborhood in Excelsior Springs, a city of a little more than 10,500 people about 30 miles northeast of downtown Kansas City.

During that time, the typically quiet neighborhood has also been swarmed by “looky-loos,” said Grover, who is retired and moved in about a year ago. Residents that live on this street know that the woman ran down the road early Friday morning from where she was being held captive and was let inside by a neighbor. But just about everything else is hearsay, he said.

The man who lives at the house in question, Timothy M. Haslett, 39, was arrested outside there Friday morning and now faces charges of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree rape and second-degree assault in Clay County Circuit Court. He has yet to make his first court appearance and court records listed no defense attorney for him as of Monday night.

Police obtained their search warrants based in part on the statements of the victim, along with the obvious signs of trauma she showed. But since they began searching the property Friday — using cadaver dogs to sweep the yard, carrying large bags of evidence outside in waves — little has been said by authorities about the operation, other than an acknowledgment that Haslett is under investigation for other crimes.

In a statement Sunday evening, Excelsior Springs Police Chief Gregory Dull thanked the community for its continued patience, saying that investigators would begin reviewing the body of evidence collected during the three-day search. He said the process would help authorities “to determine if any other crimes may have been committed.”

Speaking to The Star on Monday, Lisa Johnson, who also lives down the road from the house, recalled the frightening series of events that transpired Friday morning when her husband had just left for work.

Johnson heard faint calls for help and walked over to her front glass door to find a young woman who appeared to be severely malnourished and abused, she said. Johnson got on the phone with 911 dispatchers, she said, and spoke with her briefly as the victim hid behind a nearby tree, and then went over to a neighbor’s house.

In the days since, Johnson learned that the victim had been reunited with family at a hospital. She said she dropped to her knees, overcome with emotion, when she heard that news.

“I’m just glad she got help,” Johnson said.