Arrest Made in 18-Year-Old Abduction Cases

Fairfax County Police Department
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News Release: 91/047/0522/eja(4)
May 21, 2009

Arrest Made in 18-Year-Old Abduction Cases

Mount Vernon Police District - Las Vegas, Nevada, Fugitive Detail detectives arrested Bruce Webster, 68, for abducting his estranged wife in Fairfax County two times nearly 20 years ago. Webster, of Las Vegas, is charged with two counts of abduction and one count of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. The charges stem from an investigation by the Fairfax County Police Cold Case Squad, assisted by Las Vegas police and the Washington Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Cold Case detectives learned about the 1990 abductions while investigating the murder of the same victim, Joann Webster, 44 at the time of her death. She was found murdered in her Fairfax County home, 8601 Sacramento Drive, on February 16, 1991. That homicide is still under investigation.

It is alleged that Bruce Webster, a former Fairfax County Police Officer, abducted Joann Webster, his estranged wife, on May 18, 1990, and again on January 1, 1991. Bruce Webster was arrested on January 7, 1991, for the second abduction and a preliminary hearing was scheduled. Webster did not appear in court and a warrant charging him with failure to appear was issued. Webster left the area and could not be located. The case eventually transferred to the Cold Case Squad.

It was reopened in November 2007. Webster was located and interviewed in Las Vegas on January 14, 2009. He was indicted in Fairfax County on May 18 for both abductions and the weapons charge. On May 21, Webster was arrested in Las Vegas and he remains in custody there awaiting extradition.

Bruce Webster