A recent kidnapping and robbery of an elderly woman occurred in a parking garage at a Missouri casino. 

The St. Charles Police Department states that 62-year-old Darryl Saddler is in custody for allegedly abducting a 74-year-old woman from the parking garage of the Hollywood Casino St. Louis in Maryland Heights. Authorities suspect that Saddler confronted the woman after she exited the casino and entered the parking garage. 

Saddler purportedly entered her car at gunpoint and asked for cash. He told her to go to an ATM. 

Upon reaching the QuikTrip located at 1500 Zumbehl Road, directly across the Missouri River from the Hollywood Casino, the woman and Saddler entered the store where she took out $500. Even with a gun pointed at her, the woman declined to comply with Saddler’s orders to go back to her car. 

Saddler escaped in her car and abandoned the vehicle shortly after, but officers successfully captured him without any trouble around 40 minutes later in a baseball field. 

‘Unthinkable’ Offense 

The St. Charles Police report that Saddler has an extensive criminal record featuring felony convictions for robbery, kidnapping, rape, carjacking, and gun-related crimes. The situation might have escalated significantly if the woman had not declined to return to her vehicle.

"Great thinking on her part,” said St. Charles Police Lt. Daniel Gibbons. “Kidnappings do not happen around here very often. She was fearful for her life.”

Saddler stays incarcerated under a $100K cash-only bail. He’s confronted with multiple felony charges, such as kidnapping, first-degree robbery, armed criminal activity, theft of a motor vehicle, and illegal possession of a firearm. If found guilty, he might face years in prison.

"It’s outrageous to think someone would threaten a person’s life over any amount of money,” Gibbons added. “His willingness to do this to a 74-year-old victim is unconscionable.”

While Gibbons mentions that kidnappings are uncommon, crime is prevalent in Maryland Heights. As per Neighborhood Scout, an online community analytics database, Maryland Heights has a Crime Index score of 19 out of 100, where 100 represents the safest possible score. 

An additional 74-Year-Old Woman Experiences Emergency 

The unidentified woman connected to the Missouri casino parking garage abduction wasn’t the sole 74-year-old to experience trouble following a recent casino visit. Authorities in Michigan report that a 74-year-old woman disappeared under "worrying circumstances" last Thursday at approximately 5:30 pm. 

Nancy Bloomquist, the woman, was last spotted on April 3 departing the Little River Casino while heading south on US-131 in her white 2024 GMC Terrain SUV bearing a Michigan license plate. Three days later, on Sunday evening, drone surveillance discovered her lying beneath a tree. 

Bloomquist informed the police that she had taken a wrong turn and traveled along a lengthy single-lane road that led to a vacation residence. As she attempted to turn, she collided and ignited a fire in her car. Bloomquist left the SUV without her mobile phone as the car was consumed by fire. 

A drone operated by local police found Bloomquist approximately 350 feet from her car. The vacation home owners supplied police with video evidence from their trail cameras that corroborated Bloomquist’s story. 

The overnight temperature over the weekend dipped below freezing. Authorities state the 74-year-old is fortunate to have survived.