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Alleged Child Predator Dead After Kidnapping Leads To Deadly Police Chase
William Robert Ice is alleged to have abducted a teen girl in North Carolina and fled the state before he was caught by authorities in Arkansas over one week later.
A man accused of having kidnapped a teenage girl in North Carolina is now dead following a police chase and exchange of gunfire in Arkansas, authorities say.
William Robert Ice, a 38-year-old resident of Jackson Center, Pennsylvania, died Saturday evening following a kidnapping earlier this month that ended in a violent altercation with police, Davidson County Sheriff's Office said.
Ice is alleged to have been responsible for the disappearance of a 14-year-old girl who was found missing from her home in Davidson County, North Carolina on February 11, authorities said. An investigation revealed that the teen had been using a school-issued computer to communicate with a man, later identified as Ice; he then abducted the teen from her home and fled the state in a red Dodge Durango, according to the sheriff’s office.
Authorities tracked Ice to a McDonald’s restaurant in Lonoke County, Arkansas on Saturday after two officers on patrol recognized the Durango as the car used in the North Carolina kidnapping, the Arkansas State Police said in a news release. As they moved in closer, officers saw two people in the car and ordered the driver to get out of the car; he did so, but produced a gun and shot at one of the officers, injuring him, according to police. The second officer shot back at Ice, who got back into the vehicle and fled the scene.
An Arkansas State Trooper who was nearby followed Ice out of the lot and a chase ensued, ending when Ice’s car became stuck in a snowbank near a highway, police said. The teen took that opportunity to flee from the car and get to safety. Ice, meanwhile, was found inside the car with what authorities said they believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was transported to a hospital in Little Rock, where he died from his injuries, they said.
Following her abduction, the teen was taken back home to North Carolina, authorities confirmed to WFMY News 2.
“She’s definitely traumatized and has a long road ahead of her to recover from this,” Sergeant David Blake with the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office said Monday, according to the outlet.
Authorities believe that Ice pretended to be a teenager when he communicated with numerous minors on social media, with authorities stating that they’ve already identified at least 10 other children with whom Ice has spoken, according to WFMY. At the time of the abduction earlier this month, he was already wanted in connection to alleged child sex crimes in Pennsylvania, according to police.
Multiple agencies, including the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, and numerous federal agencies worked together to capture Ice and bring the abducted teen home safely, according to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office.
