Police: Woman Held Captive for Five Weeks and Repeatedly Raped in Remote Alaska Cabin
An Alaska woman was allegedly held captive for five weeks in a remote cabin and raped up to six times a day by her abductor, reports the Associated Press.
An affidavit written by Alaska State Trooper Matthew Iverson and reported by the AP has the details, which are nightmarish: the woman arrived in Fairbanks on September 26, where she was met by Daniel Selovich. They traveled together from there to a Fairbanks motel, “where they engaged in consensual sex” while staying there for “a few days.”
On October 1 they flew to Selovich’s cabin, located “about 16 miles south of Manley Hot Springs.” Manley Hot Springs, judging from a map of Alaska, is roughly the middle of nowhere. Due south is an area of wilderness. Further south is Denali National Park and Preserve. This is a pretty remote cabin.
They didn’t occupy the cabin right away: repairs were being done, and so she and Selovich stayed in a tent on the property. This, according to the report, is where he allegedly began to beat and rape her, when they were many tough miles away from civilization.
She said Selovich beat her with his fists and belts, kicked her and bit her, and that the sex was not consensual.
She also said, “Daniel tied a rope around her neck which was also tied to a roof support beam, and he also tied her hands together so she could not move,” according to the affidavit.
The woman told police that Selovich “used duct tape to bind the two together at night and placed a rope around her neck so she couldn’t run away.” This apparently went on through the month of October and into November, before the woman managed to send a Facebook message to a friend “requesting a medical evacuation because of chest pains and possible pneumonia.”
Selovich and the woman were reportedly picked up by a military helicopter on Sunday. Iverson observed “bruising on the woman’s arms and head and a laceration on the right side of her neck,” and troopers who searched the cabin found “a knife, several pieces of duct-tape and a roll of the tape” along with “a rope tied to the roof beam.” The woman reportedly told Iverson “it would be better for her to run away from the cabin and possibly be eaten by a bear than continue being physically and sexually assaulted by Daniel.”
Selovich has been charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, and assault. The last of his alleged attacks reportedly took place as the military helicopter landed on his property.
