Larry Wayne Price Jr. Arrested on Federal Criminal Complaint

Defendant Charged with Making a False Statement as it relates to a Claim He Was Kidnapped

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A Bluefield, Virginia man, who was reported missing by his wife in April, has been arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Abingdon with making false statements regarding claims he was kidnapped, United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen announced today.

Larry Wayne Price Jr., 38, was arrested Thursday, May 10, 2018 on a federal criminal complaint and charged with one count of knowingly and willfully making materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statements and representations. At the conclusion of a lengthy hearing on Friday, May 11, 2018, Hon. Pamela Meade Sargent ordered that the defendant remain in custody until he posts a $500,000 secured bond and arrangements are made to allow for GPS tracking of his whereabouts.

According to the criminal complaint and affidavit, Price’s wife reported him missing at 1:58 a.m. on April 14, 2018 to the Bluefield, Virginia Police Department. The Bluefield PD, along with the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office began an intense missing person’s investigation that would later include the Virginia State Police’s helicopter resources, canine resources and hundreds of federal, state, and local investigative man-hours.

At approximately 9:00 p.m. on April 14, 2018, Price was located by a driver who noticed him on the side of the road on Route 61 near Gratton, Virginia. Price was taken to the hospital and interviewed by a Bluefield Police Department detective. Price told the detective he was kidnapped by two, unknown white males, drugged and held against his will until he was thrown out of a van near where he was found. In addition, Price told the detective he was taken from Tazewell County, Virginia to a business he owns, Hawg Pit Cycles in West Virginia, where he believed his keys were taken and the store’s safe was robbed. Price said the unknown men pointed a gun at him, searched his pockets, and took his pocketknife and his 9 mm Sig firearm.

According to the affidavit, these statements of the defendant and other statements that he made to federal law enforcement agents were false because Price was, in fact, consensually with another person during the time period he claimed to be kidnapped.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Bluefield Virginia Police Department, Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office, Virginia State Police, Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marshal’s Service and Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer will prosecute the case for the United States.

A criminal complaint is only a charge and not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.