OREGON WOMAN SENTENCED TO TEN YEARS IN PRISON FOR VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON KIDNAP ATTEMPT
Pair planned to kidnap co-worker’s child
KAYSE DAY, 21, of Beaverton, Oregon was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to ten years in prison for Conspiracy to Commit Kidnaping, in the August, 2004 attempted kidnaping of a Vancouver, Washington child. In sentencing DAY, U.S. District Judge Franklin D. Burgess said that she had made her own choices and now had to live with the consequences.
According to court documents, DAY and CHRISTOPHER MATTHEWS (32) of Aloha, Oregon hatched a plan to kidnap the minor child of a former co-worker of DAY’s at a Portland financial services firm. The pair secretly took the co-workers house key and had a duplicate made. They rented a hotel room in Portland and bought cereal and orange juice to feed the child while they held him hostage. The night of August 17, 2004 the two dressed in black, wore masks and latex gloves and took duct tape to restrain the child. They drafted a ransom note demanding $250,000. In the early morning hours of August 18th, DAY and MATTHEWS left their van running while they secretly entered the victim’s Vancouver, Washington home. Fortunately, an alert neighbor who works the night shift saw the two skulking near the victim’s home and called police. DAY and MATTHEWS were arrested after police found them inside the home.
On November 4, 2005, CHRISTOPHER MATHEWS was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in the crime. Prosecutors recommended a shorter sentence for DAY, because after her arrest she cooperated with authorities and quickly and candidly provided information about the kidnaping plot. Nevertheless, the seriousness of the crime justifies a lengthy term. As Assistant United States Attorney Mike Dion wrote to the court, “the conspirators’ plan would have resulted in a terrifying nightmare for a small boy and his family.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Clark County Sheriff’s Department.
Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Dion and Tessa Gorman prosecuted the case. For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington at (206)553-4110.
