Kidnapping, sexual assault suspect arrested after countywide manhunt

ITAWAMBA COUNTY, MISS. (WCBI) – An Itawamba County man is in jail, accused of kidnapping and sexual assaulting a woman.

An alert deputy spotted a Silver PT Cruiser on a gravel road in Itawamba County.

Inside, Robert Christopher Ellis, 45.

“He is in custody, thankfully we were able to get on him quick enough, that he didn’t have time to think and try to make this end violently,” said Itawamba County Sheriff Chris Dickinson.

Ellis was wanted in connection with an alleged kidnapping and sexual assault that happened this past weekend.

Sheriff Dickinson said Ellis may have held his victim captive for a couple of days before she was able to escape early Sunday morning. Security video from the Evergreen Grocery and Deli showed the moment the victim escaped, as Ellis let her out of his car to get a drink.

The victim went to the hospital, and deputies were eventually notified about the abduction and sexual assault.

“We have enough evidence obviously to charge him and get him locked up and get him out of harm’s way for other people,” said Sheriff Dickinson.

The sheriff said a woman from Grenada was in the car with Ellis at the time of his capture and didn’t know he was the target of a countywide manhunt.

“I’m scared of what might have happened to her, because it was setting up for another attack, it didn’t happen, but according to her that’s what she thought was coming,” said Sheriff Dickinson.

Ellis faces charges including Kidnapping and Sexual Assault, and he could face even more charges once his vehicle is processed, and investigators talk with the woman he was with at the time of his arrest.

Sheriff Dickinson said Ellis had been arrested on a burglary charge, but had been released on bond.