Feds charge man with kidnapping
A Colorado man has been charged with kidnapping a Vermont man whose body was found by the side of the road in Barnet, Vt., federal court records say.
Jerry Banks, 34, of Fort Garland was arrested Wednesday in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, where he was working, the Vermont office of the U.S. attorney said in a news release Friday.
According to an affidavit, FBI investigators used cellphone and automobile records to link Banks to the early 2018 kidnapping of a Gregory Davis, 49, of Danville, Vt. The FBI affidavit does not offer a motive for the kidnapping.
The complaint against Banks was filed March 30 and unsealed Thursday after his arrest.
In a news release, the Vermont office of the U.S. attorney said Banks appeared in federal court in Wyoming on Thursday and will appear again in federal court there before he is ordered to appear in Vermont.
“Although Banks is not charged with Davis’ murder, the complaint affidavit contains allegations that Banks murdered Davis,” the news release says.
Davis was found shot to death on Jan. 7, 2018, in a snowbank in Barnet, the Vermont State Police reported at the time.
The affidavit says that about 15 minutes before the Jan. 6, 2018, kidnapping, a 911 call was made to Vermont authorities from a North Danville cellphone tower within a mile of Davis’ home.
The 911 caller claimed to have shot his wife and was going to shoot himself. Police were unable to locate the address provided by the caller.
In investigating the death, Vermont State Police learned that someone claiming to be a U.S. Marshal went to Davis’ Danville home to arrest him, said the affidavit signed by FBI Special Agent Patrick Hanna on March 30.
Davis’ wife described the man as having handcuffs, a rifle and wearing a mask and jacket that had a U.S. Marshal’s emblem.
The man told Davis he had an arrest warrant for racketeering for him from Virginia. They went away together.
Investigators learned that the 911 call dialed near Davis’ home was made from a cellphone that had been purchased the day before at a Walmart store in Clearfield, Pa.