Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Girl tells authorities Duncan tied up 3 found slain in Idaho By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS COEUR D’ALENE, IDAHO — An abducted 8-year-old girl told authorities that a violent sexual predator tied up her family before she and her 9-year-old brother were taken away in a pickup truck, according to court papers released Tuesday. The affidavit makes no mention of the savage beating deaths of the childrens mother, older brother and mothers boyfriend, or whether the girl witnessed the killings. Joseph Edward Duncan III, 42, of Fargo, N.D., was charged with two first-degree kidnapping counts and ordered held without bail Tuesday. Duncan was shackled and appeared unshaven as he looked intently at the judge during a brief appearance via video link. The intent of the crimes, court documents said, was to rape, seriously injure or commit a lewd and lascivious act on a child under 16 years old. Duncan has not been charged with anything other than the kidnapping counts, which can carry the death penalty or life in prison. Kootenai County Sheriff’s Sgt. Brad Maskell wrote in the terse, handwritten document that both children “were repeatedly molested.” It is the JOSEPH policy of The DUNCAN Associated Press not to publish names of alleged sexual assault victims without their consent. The children vanished May 16, when the bodies of their mother, older brother and mothers boyfriend were found at their rural home. Early Saturday, employees and customers spotted the girl eating breakfast with Duncan in Coeur d’Alene. Authorities on Tuesday continued to wait for DNA test results of human remains found in western Montana earlier this week that may be those of the 9-year-old boy, who authorities believe is dead. Those results are expected to take three days. Duncan had spent more than a decade in prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy at gunpoint and was a fugitive at the time of his arrest, accused of molesting a 6-year-old boy in Minnesota. A registered high-risk sex offender, Duncan was released on $15,000 bail earlier this year after being charged with molesting the boy. Police in Fargo, N.D. had been looking for Duncan since May, when he failed to check in with a probation agent. Duncan has not cooperated with authorities in their search for the 9-year-old boy, officials said. Authorities have relied on information from his sister, evidence from Duncan’s stolen red Jeep Cherokee and some 100 new tips from the public in the search for the boy. At a news conference in St. Regis, Mont., FBI Special Agent in Charge Tim Fuhrman of Salt Lake City confirmed Tuesday that the children were with Duncan in the Lolo National Forest of northwestern Montana sometime over the past seven weeks. But he said officials had not yet confirmed whether Duncan was with them the entire tirqe. Associated Press Writer Sarah Cooke contributed to this report. '■tfW&m, If vrUIn ‘WiBBBWylMBHBBmikniw ■ ? ■'*** .. "' *." ' ** *rt' " - ■ LOANS Continued from page 1 loan, a parent loan, will also rise nearly 2 percent to 6.1 percent. These two loans aren’t the only ones increasing. The average loan will increase by at least 2 percent of its original rate. This type of increase can affect students in many ways from losing more money to not being able to attend college direcdy out of high school. “If loan rates continue to “To achieve their dream jobs, students don’t really have a choice but to attend college, but with the increase of the loan rates, it is causing students to double think their collegiate decision.” ASHLEY RHODES SECOND-YEAR HOTEL, RESTAURANT AND TOURISM MANAGEMENT STUDENT increase, students may have to work after high school graduation just to save up for the rates,” said second-year hotel, restaurant and tourism management student Ashley Rhodes. “I don’t think that it is fair that this is happening since students aren’t getting any benefit out of it,” she said. “To achieve their dream jobs, students don’t really have a choice but to attend college, but with the increase of the loan rates, it is causing students to double think their collegiate decision.” Consolidating loans is an option for students but even doing that will result in more money spent on the students’ sides. For loans that have a fixed interest rate of 5 percent or more, consolidation may not help. “As a parent and university employee, I think the rate increases will hurt students more than the Department of Education thinks,” said Dr. Geoffrey Alpert, chairman of the department of criminology and criminal justice. “Having to take out loans is a huge responsibility for college students and when the bank or department begins to ask for more money in rates, it causes the student to become more stressed about the ability to pay it back,” he said. Increasing the loan rates can damage students’ view of higher education and drop out rates may also increase. “I think by increasing these rates, it can cause a higher drop out rate because students may realize that they won’t have enough money to pay back their loans,” said third-year management student Betsy Curry. “Unfortunately, I think that the rates will also, discourage students to pursue higher education because of not being able to pay for it,” she said. With the average public four year university attendance cost at $12,300 and the average private school cost at $22,600, students and parents may have to find alternative ways to pay for college and their loan rates. Comments on this story l E-mail gamecocknews®gwm.sc. edu Solving Problems Including: DUI, Criminal Defense, Auto Accidents 2910 Devine Street 254-7900 CROMER LAW OFFICES A General Practice of Law J.L. "Bubba" Cromer, Jr. Former S. C. State Representative