Local charges have been dismissed against a 47-year-old Kansas man who was found in a Cortez hotel on Jan. 24 with a 14-year-old girl who ran away from her Topeka home. He will be extradited and prosecuted in Kansas.
Shortly after Michael S. Fitzgerald appeared in Montezuma County Court on Wednesday afternoon – where charges of harboring a minor and second-degree kidnapping were dismissed – District Attorney Will Furse, for the 22nd Judicial District of Colorado, issued a press release stating members of Kansas law enforcement and the FBI requested that the 22nd Judicial District dismiss the pending criminal case against Fitzgerald.
Furse wrote that he anticipates Fitzgerald being extradited to Kansas in the next few days to face felony charges there. There’s also a chance that Fitzgerald may be indicted on federal charges, he wrote.
According to a felony affidavit, Cortez police located Fitzgerald at the Days Inn by Wyndham Cortez about 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 24 based on vehicle tracking information from a detective with the Topeka Police Department. He was with a 14-year-old girl, who had been missing since Jan. 22.
Furse also said that shortly after Fitzgerald’s arrest, officials in Shawnee County, Kansas, issued a felony warrant for Fitzgerald on allegations of child abduction and interference with parental custody. He is being held on a no-bond hold from Kansas.
sdolan@the-journal.com
