Duluth Man Charged with Kidnapping 13-Year-Old Girl, Taking Her Across State Lines

A 41-year-old Duluth man has been charged by criminal complaint in federal court in the District of Minnesota for allegedly kidnapping a 13-year-old girl and taking her across state lines. In a complaint filed this afternoon, Todd Richard Franik was charged with one count of kidnapping. He is scheduled to make his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey J. Keyes at 4 p.m. today in St. Paul.

According to a law enforcement affidavit filed in this case, Franik abducted the girl in Duluth at about 3 p.m. on August 2, 2010. While walking a small dog, the girl purportedly passed a parked car, its hood up. The man standing near the vehicle, later identified as Franik, asked the girl for directions to the zoo but then allegedly grabbed her and the dog and forced them into the trunk of the car. Next, Franik allegedly drove the car around for 15 to 20 minutes, crossing into Wisconsin and back into Minnesota, before stopping in a wooded area and removing both the child and the dog from the trunk.

The affidavit states that while in the woods, Franik engaged in sexual conduct with the child. Following those actions, he used duct tape to wrap the child’s hands and feet and secure her to a fallen tree. He also allegedly tore his shirt, stuffed the cloth into her mouth, and then covered her mouth with more duct tape, after which, he supposedly taped the dog’s mouth shut too.

Once Franik drove away from the scene, the child was able to twist and chew her way through the duct tape. She then made her way to a business in Superior, Wisconsin, from where authorities were called.

While law enforcement officers worked to recover evidence from the woods, including scraps of duct tape and fresh shoe prints, they observed a car matching the description of the vehicle used in the alleged crime. The car reportedly drove past the investigators several times on a nearby highway.

Tracing the vehicle’s license plate number, police were led to a Duluth parking lot. There, they found the car and placed it under surveillance. During the early afternoon of August 3, 2010, they reportedly observed Franik approach the vehicle and open the trunk. Officers closed in and purportedly spotted duct tape and other evidence of the crime in the open trunk. A subsequent search of Franik’s residence yielded shoes with a tread pattern that matched the shoe prints found in the woods. Franik was arrested without incident.

If convicted, Franik faces a potential maximum penalty of life in prison. All sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Duluth Police Department, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David P. Steinkamp.