Dog collar, zip ties found at camp where woman was allegedly held captive, abused

OREM — A homeless man who police say held a woman against her will, cut her body multiple times with a razor and injected her with an unknown substance, has been arrested for investigation of nearly three dozen charges.

Eddie Cole Buckley, 50, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Monday for investigation of aggravated kidnapping, object rape and 30 counts of aggravated assault.

The investigation began Thursday morning at Mountain Timpanogos Park at the mouth of Provo Canyon in Orem when construction workers arriving for work found "an adult male and adult female, who were unclothed and unresponsive," according to a police booking affidavit.

Before emergency crews arrived at the park, however, both the man and woman became alert, and the man, Buckley, ran off.

Police found the camp the two had been staying at, "which was located a hike up the mountain, northwest of the park," the affidavit states.

The woman told investigators that she had been dating Buckley for about a year and had been living at the camp since moving to Utah from Georgia. The woman claimed that Buckley put both of his hands around her neck on July 7 and strangled her, and then twice "attempted to inject an unknown substance" into her body and was successful the second time, police wrote in their affidavit.

"In addition, Eddie used a micro-blade razor to cut her body 29 times. The victim showed officers where she had been cut, which were along her arms, shoulder," and other areas of her body, according to the affidavit. "Meanwhile, the victim tried kicking Eddie while he would tell her not to scream," but she assumed that "they were so far up the mountain she did not believe anybody could help her.

"The victim further detailed how Eddie would keep her shoes from her, not allowing her to leave or run away on the rocky roads. The victim told us she believed she was going to die. On-scene, restraints were observed at their camp, including a dog collar and zip ties. The victim reported Eddie using them on this night to tie her down and keep her from leaving," the affidavit continued.

On the night of July 8, "Eddie wouldn't let the victim leave him, so he trapped her there in some bushes by the river until dark. He then forced her to walk back up the mountain to their camp overnight," the affidavit states. They were discovered the next morning by construction crews.

Buckley was located and booked into the Utah County Jail on Monday.

Related topics