Retrospect: Kidnapping suspect caught

Sixty years ago this week, a man accused of kidnapping a Portland woman was apprehended in Chicago.  

Law enforcement in Cook County, Illinois, arrested Albert Ernest Brock, 29, a former resident of Portland who was out on parole, on Aug. 14, 1958. 

Brock was wanted in connection with a robbery and kidnapping that took place at Sky-Vue Theatre in Portland the evening of Aug. 8, 1958. 

Harriet Fraser Jones told local law enforcement that while she was working the ticket booth at the theatre on the north side of Portland, a group of two men and three women pulled up in a black car around 10 p.m. 

One of the men got out and brandished a gun, demanding money. Jones gave him $144, after which he demanded she get into the car. 

Jones was blindfolded and the group drove away. She was released unharmed near Pennville and asked for help at a nearby home. 

Brock, believed to be the ringleader of the group, was arrested in Chicago and confessed to the robbery and kidnapping.

The practice of kidnapping people for a short while before releasing them was repeated in several other crimes in which Brock was accused. In addition to his charges of armed robbery and kidnapping in Jay County, he had reportedly kidnapped and robbed attendants at a gas station in Randolph County and several gas stations and a motel in Illinois. 

He was also wanted on charges of passing bad checks and violating his parole from the Indiana Reformatory.