FBI arrests kidnapping suspect at Leitchfield gas station

bryan-conley-01-31-1
bryan-conley-01-31-1

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has released information on the arrest Wednesday night of a suspect at the Marathon gas station, at 802 South Main Street, in Leitchfield.

According to U.S. Attorney Russell M Coleman, FBI agents arrested 36-year-old Bryan Conley for the kidnapping of a Brentwood, Tennessee woman and for demanding a ransom from the woman’s family.

According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court, on Tuesday the Brentwood (TN) Police Department received a phone call from the mother of the woman indicating her unnamed daughter had been kidnapped. Conley was using the kidnapped woman’s phone and texting her mother ordering her to pay a ransom of $20,000 for her daughter’s release.

Federal officials said Conley told the mother of the woman to begin driving to Toledo, Ohio, where she would receive another phone call. Conley threatened to sell, rape and kill the woman if her parents did not comply with his demands.

Conley then sent the woman’s parents a “proof of life” photograph of the kidnapped woman, which depicted the woman inside of a vehicle with binding around her mouth, authorities said. The photo was reviewed and the vehicle was determined to be consistent with a 2013-2018 Ford Taurus SE.

The ransom was eventually negotiated down to “$400 and some jewelry,” federal officials said, and it was agreed that the father of the woman would begin traveling towards Toledo to drop off the ransom.

On Tuesday morning, an unidentified user attempted to access the kidnapped woman’s parent’s bank account, with the individual correctly providing the victim’s mother’s social security number, but unable to correctly answer the security questions.

Later that morning, there was a successful login to the mother’s bank account via her telephone number. The bank provided the telephone number associated with the first attempt, which was registered to Conley’s wife in Clarksville, Tennessee. Investigators learned through an NCIC query that Conley’s wife owns a gray 2014 Ford Taurus registered in her name. Further investigation revealed the two telephones (Conley’s and his wife’s) were in “close proximity,” according to police.

Conley then texted the phone of the kidnapped woman’s daughter, saying, “one more lie she’s dead,” at approximately 2:25 Wednesday afternoon.

Location information from the cellular carrier placed the kidnapped woman’s phone in the vicinity of Hopkinsville.

At 3:30 Wednesday afternoon, the ransom payment was delivered behind a dumpster at the Flying J Travel Center in Oak Grove, in Christian County. Federal authorities said that at approximately 5:00 Wednesday afternoon, agents from the FBI’s Louisville Division observed Conley retrieve the ransom payment, then enter a Ford Taurus and leave the Flying J Travel Center.

FBI agents followed Conley to the Marathon gas station in Leitchfield where Conley was arrested by FBI Special Agents who removed the kidnapped woman’s phone from his possession. The Leitchfield Police Department and Greater Hardin County Narcotics Task Force assisted federal authorities at the scene.

After the arrest, the kidnapped woman was found, safe, in the Ford Taurus. She has been returned to her family.

After being questioned by federal authorities for several hours at the Leitchfield Police Department, Conley was transported to the Oldham County Detention Center. He now, though, is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, authorities said.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Judd, and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Louisville, Memphis, Cincinnati, Detroit and Cleveland Offices with the assistance of Brentwood Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Louisville Metro Police Department, Kentucky State Police, Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office, Elizabethtown Police Department, Shepherdsville Police Department, Leitchfield Police Department, Clarksville Police Department, and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Federal agents arresting Conley at the Marathon gas station in Leitchfield at approximately 6:00 Wednesday night

By Ken Howlett, News Director

Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000