Idaho Girl Gives Disturbing Details of Her Abduction and Abuse

By Linda Orlando

Joseph Edward Duncan III, 42, of Fargo, N.D., had spent more than a decade in prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy at gunpoint in Tacoma, Wash. In 1980 he had been sentenced to 20 years in prison for that crime, but he was released on parole in 1994. When he violated his parole, he was sent back to prison in 1997, and was released again in 2000 at the end of his sentence. After being released from prison, Duncan traveled to Minnesota, and last July he was arrested and charged with molesting a 6-year old boy. While awaiting trial on that charge, he was released on only $15,000 bond, and he quickly fled. Police in Fargo began searching for him in May, when he missed an appointment with his probation agent. Sadly, he is now back in custody, charged with two counts of first-degree kidnapping and intent to rape, seriously injure, or commit a lewd and lascivious act on a child under 16 years old. Although he has not been charged with anything else yet, police suspect that Duncan also murdered three people in little Shasta Groene’s home the night he kidnapped her and her brother.

Eight-year old Shasta told police that her nightmarish ordeal at the hands of Duncan began six weeks ago when she was awakened in the middle of the night by Duncan, a man she had never seen before. Duncan tied her up, and then Shasta watched as he also tied up her 9-year old brother Dylan, her mother, Brenda Groene, her 13-year old brother Slade, and her mother’s boyfriend, Mark McKenzie. Shasta and her brother Dylan were carried along with her 9-year old brother to a pickup truck waiting outside her house, and then Duncan drove the pickup truck away, taking Shasta and her brother along with him. On May 16, authorities discovered the bodies of Shasta’s family bound and bludgeoned to death inside the rural home outside Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.

A nationwide amber alert was issued for Shasta and Dylan, but for six weeks the nation and the residents of Coeur D'Alene waited anxiously for news, hopeful that the two children would be found alive. According to Kootenai County Sheriff's Sgt. Brad Maskell, Shasta has told police that during those six weeks, she and her brother were repeatedly molested by Duncan at campsites. Shasta has told officers that Duncan did not have an accomplice. It is unknown whether she witnessed Duncan killing the others, but she has described to police the details of her ordeal, including the fact that she witnessed her brother being molested by Duncan on numerous occasions.

"This little girl really went through more than any little girl should ever have to think about," Kootenai County Sheriff's Capt. Ben Wolfinger said Tuesday. Shasta’s grandmother and aunt have appeared on television, telling reporters that Duncan has no known connection to their family. No one in the family except her father has spoken with Shasta, but she seems to be doing well, according to the family.

Shasta was discovered at a Denny’s restaurant having a meal with her captor, and police immediately arrested Duncan and charged him with kidnapping. Her brother Dylan was not with her, so authorities continued their search for him, fearing that he was dead. Their fears may be confirmed soon, because a body believed to be that of Shasta’s 9-year old brother was found in western Montana, and authorities are awaiting identification.

Residents of Coeur D’Alene as well as everyone who held their breath waiting for Shasta and her brother to be found were amazed and shocked by the discovery that the children had been taken by a convicted sex offender who absolutely should not have been released from jail last year. "Really, is it possible not to be frustrated at the way events have unfolded in this case?" Fargo Police Chief Chris Magnus asked Tuesday at a news conference. His question echoes the thoughts of every single person saddened by the news of Shasta’s ordeal. First Duncan served 14 years in prison for violently assaulting a boy at gunpoint, then he violated his parole and had to serve the remaining 7 years, and then he was arrested for molesting a 6-year old last year—and they released him on a paltry $15,000 bond? There’s no question that Duncan should have to pay with his life for the crimes he’s committed and the nightmare he put tiny Shasta Groene through. But whoever the judge was that released him should have to pay too, not only by losing his job, but hopefully also by being plagued with his own nightmares for years to come.