Suspect arrested in rape investigation
Hunter Daine Bechtol
ATLANTIC, Iowa —Atlantic authorities have reported the arrest of 21-year-old Hunter Daine Bechtol on a Nodaway County charge of second-degree rape.
The charge reportedly stems from an incident under investigation by the Northwest Missouri State University Police Department.
According to news reports, campus police received a report of the alleged rape at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 2.
The incident itself is believed to have occurred between 3 and 4 a.m. that same day in the South Complex residence hall.
According to a university email sent to Northwest students, the rape allegedly occurred inside the apparent victim’s dorm room after the suspect was permitted to enter.
Bechtol was one of 11 people indicted earlier this spring by a Nodaway County grand jury. The other 10 suspects face felony drug charges in unrelated investigations.
Most of those suspects were taken into custody May 3 during a flurry of arrests coordinated by the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force that followed five months of drug buys conducted by undercover operatives.
About 20 officers participated in the sweep. In addition to strike force members, those taking part included Nodaway County sheriff’s deputies, Maryville police and locally based Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers.
Two of those indicted remain at large, Nodaway County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Rice said Wednesday.
Bechtol was being held in the Cass County Jail in Atlantic in lieu of $30,000 bond. If convicted of the Class D felony he could serve up to seven years in state prison.
