PEARL RIVER COUNTY, MS (WLOX) -
A suspect is behind bars after allegedly holding his wife hostage in their trailer on Farmer Road in Pearl River County Tuesday, according to the Pearl River County Sheriff's Department.
Pearl River County Chief Deputy Shane Tucker said, Bart Fordham, 49, of Pearl River County is charged with kidnapping and felony aggravated assault domestic violence after allegedly holding his wife hostage for three and a half hours.
The victim's sister asked deputies to conduct a welfare check on her sister at around 10 a.m. When they arrived at Fordham's trailer, Fordham answered. They asked him where his wife was and he reportedly told them that she moved to Gulfport.
After leaving, deputies received a call from the victim's sister again. This time she told deputies her sister texted a message that said her husband was holding her hostage in a closet in their trailer.
Deputies headed back to the trailer to investigate. They knocked on the trailer door, but no one answered, Tucker said.
"We could hear someone walking inside. Deputies secured the perimeter and a SWAT team responded," Tucker explained.
Deputies attempted to begin some type of communication with Tucker by calling him on his phone or by using a loud speaker.
"We asked him to step outside," Tucker said.
When Fordham finally answered his phone, he allegedly told deputies he was in Gulfport and that he wouldn't be home for at least another hour.
"He also said no one was in the trailer, which we knew was not true," Tucker added.
After Fordham hung up, his wife called deputies from a restricted number. Tucker said he believes she was coached on what to tell deputies.
Just thirty minutes after the call, Tucker said, the wife came running out of the back door.
Fordham had to be physically pulled out of the trailer, after refusing to leave. He was transported to the Pearl River County jail.
Fordham and his wife were the only two in the trailer at the time of the incident. The victim suffered minor scraps to her knees after falling as she ran out of the trailer. No firearms were located at the trailer.
Bond for Fordham has not been set yet.
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Bart Fordham. Image source: Pearl River County Sheriff's Department.
