A Smithville man was recently arrested by Putnam County Sheriff’s deputies after allegedly kidnapping a Putnam County juvenile.

Nineteen-year-old Devon Wayne Yokeum was taken into custody last Saturday after an investigation into a possible runaway situation revealed the victim had instead been kidnapped.

Photo credit Herald Citizen

According to arrest warrants, the victim went to a movie with Yokeum.
“[The victim] asked to be taken to her own vehicle to enable her to return home,” the warrant said. “[Yokeum] refused to do as requested and instead took the victim to his residence in Dekalb County.”

The warrants indicate that statements made by both the victim and Yokeum revealed that the victim had been held against her will. He had “hollowed out the bottom side of a mattress and [hid] her there until local law enforcement arrived looking for the victim.”

Warrants do not reveal how long the victim was allegedly held against her will.