A man who kidnapped a woman in Hastings in 1983 and left her tied to a tree in rural Wisconsin in 1983 has been apprehended in Iowa 29 years after escaping from a halfway house in Madison.
George V. Hartleroad, 71, was convicted of the crime that occurred May 21, 1983. He reportedly kidnapped the woman from a wayside in Hastings. He kept the woman captive in the trunk of his car and raped her repeatedly, according to court records. He then left her tied to a tree naked. She was later discovered by a jogger.
Hartleroad was arrested at a Chippewa Falls motel by a SWAT team. Court records show he pleaded guilty to endangering safety of another, false imprisonment and possession of a short-barreled rifle.
He was released from prison in 1995 and placed in a halfway house in Madison where he escaped. Wisconsin prison records list his status as “absconded.”
Hartleroad was reportedly arrested by West Des Moines police. He reportedly had been homeless and resided in the area of Valley Junction. He was stopped by officers June 26 for riding his bicycle on the roadway with no rear reflector. He gave police a false name and social security number and was questioned by police for over a half-hour before confessing his actual name.
Police then learned he had an active warrant from Wisconsin.
Hartleroad is currently in custody in the Polk County, IA Jail, awaiting extradition to Wisconsin.