Left to right: Brandon Williams, Bailey Abercrombie and Donnie Merriman (Photos courtesy of Douglas County Sheriff’s Office)
A weeks-long investigation by law enforcement in two counties has led to the arrest of three people in Ozark and Douglas counties on multiple charges including rape, kidnapping and drug charges.
According to information from Douglas County Sheriff Chris Degase, Ozark County Sheriff Seth Martin and court documents in the case, the investigation started when members of the Multijurisdictional Task Force of the two counties served a search warrant in Theodosia Dec. 11 where methamphetamine was seized.
That led to the arrest of 49-year-old Orval (Donnie) Merriman of Theodosia on charges of trafficking a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia. His bond was set at $25,000.
As deputies continued the investigation, they determined a male and female in Douglas County related to the investigation were meeting women on an online dating app and bringing them to Douglas County where they would rape the women and then extort money from them and threaten to kill them and their families if they didn’t pay.
Arrested on charges of rape, kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child are 36-year old Brandon Williams and 26-year-old Bailey Abercrombie, both of Ava. Williams’ bond is set at $50,000 while Abercrombies bond is set at $25,000.
Williams is a registered sex offender for a prior offense of statutory sodomy from 2009.
Abercrombie told investigators Williams wanted her to find women for him to have sex with and if she didn’t, he would take it out on her. She had to go get them, and then when he was done with them, he ordered the women to pay him and if they didn’t, he threatened to kill them and their families.
Abercrombie told law enforcement she had picked up 10-15 women for Williams that she had brought back to their house. She says he would make them stay for several days before allowing them to leave.
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