AWOL Soldier Caught After Kidnapping His Wife

from the desperation-leads-to-violence department:


Melvin Alexander was found late Wednesday night after a massive manhunt near the Tennessee/Kentucky border.

Alexander was accused of kidnapping and beating his wife, who is also a soldier, from Texas and driving all the way to Kentucky.

His wife escaped after she alerted a worker at a rest stop near I-65 on the Tennessee/Kentucky state line. She told the worker that she was being held against her will by her husband.

Police responded and, after a short chase, Alexander pulled over, ditched his SUV and ran. He was eventually caught and arrested near Franklin in Simpson County, Kentucky.

"He was driving very reckless. He was weaving in and out of traffic, driving on the shoulders and actually entered some of the grassy portions on the state right of way as he was trying to evade police. We thought that he was going to continue and hurt somebody," said Lt. Bruce Patterson of the Kentucky State Police.

Melvin Alexander is a communications specialist at Fort Hood, Texas.

His wife was treated at a local hospital and released.