Suspect in Grants Pass kidnapping jailed on seven charges
Robert Alan Bufanda (Photo provided by OSP)
From our weekly issue dated April 30, 2008
A man believed to be armed and dangerous, and wanted since an April 15 kidnapping of a Grants Pass-area woman, followed by another alleged kidnapping Tuesday, April 22 of the same woman, was arrested on the 22nd.
In the second incident, the suspect, Robert Alan Bufanda, 49, address unknown, entered a Grants Pass residence armed with a knife and a flammable substance, said Grants Pass Dept. of Public Safety (GPDPS). He threatened to burn the residence and its four occupants.
He then left with Lisa Marie Melville, 43, and stole a pickup truck, said GPDPS. With the aid of civilians, the truck was found at the end of Pinnon Drive on the west side of Grants Pass. OSP troopers and Josephine County Sheriff’s Office deputies found the suspect and the victim.
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Bufanda was arrested at approximately 4:30 p.m. in a wooded area off Pinnon Road, said GPDPS. He was found near where a stolen 2001 Ford Ranger Edge pickup truck was located unoccupied. Melville was reported to be uninjured.
Bufanda was lodged in county jail on charges of first-degree kidnap, second-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, two counts of menacing, and violation of post-prison supervision.
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He had been sought by police agencies since April 15 after he kidnapped and threatened Melville, said OSP and GPDPS. The victim was able to escape the first kidnap attempt.
