Page 2
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Women thwart apparent kidnapping situation
(Continued from page 1)
There’s a journalistic axiom that no matter
who leaves the job or doesn’t show up because of ill-
ness, wrinkled clothing, tsunami or other creative ex-
cuses, the newspaper will still come out. Stories,
headlines and captions will be written, advertisements
built, and photos taken. “The paper” will be laid out
and sent to the printer by deadline. Eureka! Voila! Or
even Ole!
It’s an axiom with truth. Of course, it can also
mean that those on duty have to extend themselves
until the missing staffers show up or are replaced.
This is not to disparage the recent departure from the
“Noose” of a great couple: Steve and Britt Fairchild.
They worked with us until the last minute, departing
with honor, and placing themselves between a rock
and another rock in that Steve had to report for work
at his new job on a Monday only two days after de-
parting this valley.
We have been able to fill the huge gap left by
their departure, although the Time of Transition can
be tough. But we’ve been through such situations
more than once at various other publications. And al-
though these climates of change are challenging, there
is no doubt that by using the talents of Michelle
Binker and Shane Welsh, the “Noose” will continue
in its annoying way to be published each week no
matter what. Or who.
Besides, we have other terrific co-workers,
primarily Cindy Newton, Chris Robertson, Kacy
Clement, Becky Loudon and Millie Watkins. Oh, and
I work some too, just to help out.
But back to Steve, 30, and Britt, 27: They
have done outstanding work for us and are much ap-
preciated. Married on April 27, 2002 after graduating
from Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo with bachelor of
science degrees in journalism in 1999, they came to
Oregon some 18 months ago from Arroyo Grande,
Calif., where he was sports editor and then copy edi-
tor at the “Times-Press Record,” a twice-weekly
newspaper. She had worked for a couple of newspa-
pers, and both were highly regarded by their supervi-
sors.
They moved to Grants Pass, as Steve had been
hired as a sports writer for the Grants Pass “Daily
Courier.” Britt contacted us, and we hired her in Sep-
tember 2002. She stayed until November, when the
“Courier” hired her away from us. After a month
there, she returned to the “Noose” and was with us
since. Steve worked at the Grants Pass paper for about
eight months before coming to the valley for approxi-
mately the same time.
Now they’re returned to Arroyo Grande, as
they both have friends and family either there or
nearby. In addition, even though they will be living in
a rural area, they’ll be much closer to the cultural
events and pastimes they’ve missed while here. Steve
will be sports editor at the paper he left; Britt will do
free-lance work. Both found it difficult to say good-
bye here.
While in the Beaver State, they enjoyed the
trees and the overall beauty of Nature. They both en-
joy hiking and found some great spots around Illinois
Valley. Now they’ll be hiking in some more familiar
haunts. They will be sorely missed, not only for their
dedication, proficiency and good humor, but simply
because they are a neat couple.
Yeah, the “Noose” will continue as usual, even
without Steve and Britt. But there’s no denying that
they’ve left some big chairs to fill. We wish them
Godspeed and all the best.
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remembers. The man
stopped, too, and again
insisted he had done noth-
ing wrong, but Maloney
and Demming weren’t
buying it.
Fortunately, the home
owner in whose driveway
this confrontation was tak-
ing place heard the com-
motion and came outside.
“He (the home owner)
was now yelling at us,
‘You people get out of
here! You’re trespassing!
You’re out of control! I’m
gonna’ call the cops!’”
Maloney recalled, “And
we were yelling at him
‘Call the cops! This man
kidnapped our kids!”
The second child in the
black car then managed to
open a door, and fled into
some woods nearby.
As both children were
now free of the vehicle,
Demming and Maloney
returned to the pickup, and
backed down the drive-
way.
“I stopped at the bot-
tom of the driveway, to get
a description of the vehicle
and a license plate,” Dem-
ming remembers.
The
man stopped, too, and
again insisted he had done
nothing wrong.
“I told him, ‘You
knew something was
wrong when we told you to
stop’.”
The man then passed
Demming’s vehicle, and
pulled into another drive-
way, which led to an obvi-
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ously empty house. The
two women considered this
strange enough to warrant
sticking around.
“I saw a young girl
walking up (Kirkham)
Road, probably walking
home from the bus stop.”
Demming said, “I told her
‘You go straight home.
This guy just snatched our
kids and I don’t want it to
happen to you!’”
The black car soon
reappeared. The driver
stopped near Demming’s
pickup.
He told the
women that “he was
checking to see if his boss
was home.” The man then
threw his beer bottle into
the roadside ditch.
At this point, Dem-
ming, who claims exten-
sive experience working
with law enforcement, at-
tempted a citizen’s arrest
for drunken driving.
“I demanded his name,
and he appeared to think
about it some before giv-
ing me a name that was
probably a lie,” Demming
said, “He insisted that he
had no ID and no priors
(convictions or warrants
for his arrest).”
“He kept saying ‘I
don’t want the cops in-
volved.’ and drove away.”
The vehicle crested a
hill, moving out of the
women’s sight. Before
Demming and Maloney
reached the same hill, the
vehicle was gone.
Josephine County
Sheriff’s Office deputies,
responding to the incident,
Please don’t
drink and drive!
met Demming’s vehicle at
Kirkham and Dick George
roads.
“I told them ‘That’s
the car you want.’ and (the
deputy) said ‘The black
one?’ I gave him the li-
cense number and descrip-
tion..” Demming said.
The deputy told the
women to wait there.
By their estimate, the
women waited on the road
for “nearly 30 minutes”
before deputies returned.
Deputy Cory Krauss
took statements from the
women, and Maloney’s
son. Later, he also took a
statement from the second
child, who had been re-
turned to his mother.
Maloney said the
deputies gave her a brief
description of what hap-
pened when they contacted
the man at his residence.
“The man told (the
deputies) he didn’t know
what they were talking
about. The cops told me
they could smell alcohol
on his breath. And he had
apparently changed his
clothes,” she said.
After taking their
statements, “(Deputy)
Krauss said he was gonna’
go file a report and I would
be contacted to come sign
it,” Maloney said.
Now four weeks after
the incident, and in spite of
several calls she has made
to the sheriff’s office, Ma-
loney has yet to hear from
the deputy or see a report.
Lt. Lee Harman, com-
menting on the incident,
said the case had been
turned over to the Major
Crimes Unit, but that “the
victim refused to make
statements,” and there was
“basically no case.”
Neither Demming nor
Maloney find this a satis-
factory conclusion.
“We feel like our lives
are in danger,” Maloney
said, “because the cops just
don’t do anything.”
Said Demming, “No
matter how you look at it,
something wrong hap-
pened here, whether it was
kidnapping or drunk driv-
ing or whatever, there had
to have been a reason to
arrest (the man involved).”
325 Caves Hwy.
(In back of A&B Clothing)
592-2376
Celia Siemer with the Illinois Valley Christmas Toy/Basket Program
would like to thank the following people and businesses for their
donations and support. The Christmas Toy/Basket ‘give away’ was
held on Saturday, Dec. 20 and many families were served who would
not have otherwise had a gift under the tree for their
children. We had an outpouring of donations that increased the
number of toys that could be distributed.
Thank you all very much and Happy New Year!
*Oregon Mountain Real Estate *Illinois Valley Safe House Alliance
*Chris Mallette *Laurence & Elaine Stein *Forest Edge Farms (Joyce Abrams)
*Crate Ideas (Bruce Gibbs) *Evelyn Evans *Eye Care Group *I.V. Lions Club
*I.V. Select Market *Wild River Brewing & Pizza Co. *Southern Oregon Sanitation
*Coffee Heaven *Laura Anger *Eileen Noggle *Patti Culver *Deborah Newell
*Dr. Joe’s Pet Hospital *Lancaster Rolling Video *Junction Inn Restaurant, Motel &
Lounge *Illinois River Hideaway *IVCRT/Oregon Caves Outfitters
*Oregon Mountain Soap Co. *Selmac Auto Service
*Stevereno’s Family Restaurant & Lounge *Hart Insurance *Illinois Valley Senior
Center *CJ Dairy Queen *True Value Hardware *Rising Suns *Clouser Drilling
*Cone Ten Pottery *Oregon Caves Chevron *‘I.V. News’ *Bargain Mini Storage
*Junction Realty *First American Title *Century 21 Harris & Taylor *Taylor’s
Sausage *John Meengs *It’s a Burl *Darlene Berman *Charles Nussbaumer
*I.V. Garden Club *Frontier *Alyce Kendall *I.V. Doll Club *I.V. Sierra Club *Illinois
Valley VFW Post 5995 *Bridgeview Vineyards Winery
*Immanual Methodist Church *FCE *Grants Pass Kiwanis *Salvation Army
*Women’s Crisis Support Team
We would also like to thank the volunteers that
helped put food bags together and with distribution of the baskets.
*College Dreams (IVHS and LBMS) *Honor Society *Passages *Illinois Valley Fam-
ily Coalition *Lorna Byrne Alternative Center *IVHS Alternative Center *Dept.
Human Services employees *FCE *Becky *Johnna LaRue *Kelly Ivy *Lisa Pappas
*David Siemer *Eldon and Barbara Parchim *Darcy Turner *PJ and Gordon
Kennedy *Tabitha Jackson *Tom Green *Parker Evans *Carla Mitchell *Leslie
Vandiver *Asa Martinson-Squire *Kellie & Andrew Augustadt *Megan Cotta
*Trinity LaRue and the many volunteers that helped throughout the day…
Thank you and Happy New Year!