Man arrested for kidnapping

Local police agencies and the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team coordinated response to a kidnapping near Magnolia in Western Morgan County on Thursday, April 26.

The incident ended with the arrest of Joseph McCaffray, 51, after his girlfriend and infant son fled from McCaffray’s rented residence.

Deputy Luke Shambaugh responded to a kidnapping complaint at 600 Appalachian Way, Paw Paw shortly after 11 p.m. on Thursday.

According to police, a 911 caller identified herself as Tanya Kirk, and stated that the father of her infant son had kidnapped her from Philadelphia earlier in the day and had brought her and the six-month-old child to a rented mobile home at the Paw Paw address against her will. 

She advised that she had been physically assaulted and that her boyfriend, Joseph McCaffray, was threatening to hurt her more.

Kirk also told police that McCaffray was under the influence of crack cocaine and had told her he wanted to commit suicide.  

Police said the call disconnected when Kirk stated she could hear McCaffray coming from a back room.

Sheriff Vince Shambaugh initiated a SWAT team response to the call.

While law enforcement was en route, Kirk was able to flee the residence on foot and make her way with the infant to a neighbors’ home about 300 yards away,
said police.

Both the Paw Paw and Town of Bath Police Departments were called to secure Kirk and her child, and tend to any medical needs until the SWAT team
arrived.

The two were taken to be treated by Paw Paw Fire and Rescue, Company 32, which staged a short distance from McCaffray’s residence.

The SWAT team entry into the rented trailer yielded the arrest of McCaffray after a short scuffle.  No one was seriously injured in the raid, said police.

McCaffray was arraigned before Magistrate Kermit Ambrose and incarcerated in Eastern Regional Jail on a bond of $2,500.