Four people have been charged by police after a woman was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint, assaulted and held against her will for 36 hours in central Queensland.
Key points:
- A 26-year-old woman was allegedly kidnapped from an address at Mount Larcom at gunpoint at 3:30am on Sunday
- Police allege she was driven to Gladstone police station to get documents and only freed after officers became suspicious
- Four people have been charged by police in relation to the incident and authorities are searching for a fifth
Authorities said the 26-year-old woman was allegedly assaulted at an address in Mount Larcom, near Gladstone, at about 3:30am on Sunday.
She was then allegedly forced into a car by a 38-year-old woman who was known to her and driven at gunpoint to an address in the Gladstone suburb of Clinton.
During the drive, a man in the vehicle allegedly fired a separate home-made weapon at a passing ute, though authorities said it was believed the other car was not known to the alleged offenders.
The 26-year-old woman was allegedly held at the property in Clinton for several hours against her will, where police said the alleged offenders repeatedly assaulted then attempted to extort money from her.
Police allege about 3:30pm on Monday, 36 hours after she was taken from the Mount Larcom address, two of the alleged offenders took the woman to a Gladstone police station to "force her to collect documents".
But officers thwarted the attempt and the two alleged offenders accompanying woman were arrested without incident at the station.
The alleged victim was taken to hospital but has since been released.
Man, women, child charged
A 38-year-old Clinton woman was charged with kidnapping, deprivation of liberty, assault occasioning bodily harm in company, possessing a weapon and multiple drug offences.
She was denied police bail and is set to reappear in court in April.
A 28-year-old Boyne Island woman was charged with deprivation of liberty, assault occasioning bodily harm in company and extortion, while a 28-year-old South Gladstone man was charged with kidnapping, deprivation of liberty, assault occasioning bodily harm in company, and extortion.
Both will appear in Gladstone Magistrates Court tomorrow and have had bail opposed.
A 17-year-old was charged with deprivation of liberty and was granted police bail. She will appear in the Children's Court at an unspecified date.
Police said they were still searching for a 29-year-old Glen Eden man who was believed to be in possession of a pistol, though he was not believed to be a threat to the community.
Anyone with information or dashcam footage of Gladstone-Mount Larcom Road on Sunday morning between 3:30am and 5:30am was urged to contact police.