A woman kidnapped at gunpoint by her estranged husband Saturday in Lincoln has been found unharmed in western Nebraska. Her husband turned the gun on himself.
The Nebraska State Patrol reports 38-year-old Julie Hanes of Lincoln walked out of a cornfield about two-and-half miles northwest of Imperial in rural Chase County early Sunday evening. Hanes was taken to the Chase County Community Hospital in Imperial for observation.
Authorities found the body of 38-year-old Dwayne Lawrence of Lincoln in the cornfield about two hours later. The patrol reports authorities at the scene say Lawrence died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Early Sunday morning, an officer in Imperial on foot patrol spotted a car which matched the description of the car involved in the kidnapping driving in western Imperial. Later in the morning, a farmer called the Imperial Police Department to report he found a 1998 gold Chrysler abandoned on a road at the end of an irrigated farm field.
A search of an eight mile area near Imperial began immediately that included a Nebraska State Patrol helicopter, K-9 units and officers from the NSP, Imperial Police Department and Chase County Sheriff’s Office.