Man charged with abducting couple in rural Illinois

A man has been charged with abducting a couple from a bank Wednesday afternoon in western Illinois.

Chad C. Schipper, 40, has been charged with home invasion, kidnapping and two counts of aggravated kidnapping, according to the Whiteside County sheriff’s office. His bond was set at $1 million.

Authorities were called at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday for reports that a customer and her husband may have been abducted from the 1st Trust and Savings Bank in Albany, the sheriff’s office said. Albany is located along the Mississippi River on the western edge of the state.

The abduction of Constance P. VanOosten of Erie, Illinois; and her husband, Larry D. VanOosten, may have been financially motivated, according to a statement issued late Wednesday by the FBI’s Chicago office. Erie is about 30 miles east of Moline.

Police eventually identified Schipper as a suspect and tried to perform a traffic stop when they located his vehicle, the sheriff’s office said. The vehicle drove away, resulting in a high-speed pursuit that ended in a crash.

Schipper, who lives in rural Geneseo, was arrested after the crash, the sheriff’s office said. He remains in police custody at a hospital, where he is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

The VanOostens were located at a home in Geneseo, the sheriff’s office said. The FBI said they were “alive and in good health.”