Iowa Fugitive Wanted for Kidnapping and Sex Assault Arrested by U.S Marshals

PENSACOLA, FL -The U.S. Marshals North Florida Violent Fugitive Task Force apprehended wanted felon Kenneth Duaine Swanger last night around 8 o’clock. Swanger, who escaped local authorities last week after slipping out of a window of a friend’s house, was spotted last night by members from the Marshals’ Task Force as he was driving out of a parking lot of the Super Walmart located on Highway 29 in Pensacola. During their investigation the task force had learned that Swanger maybe carrying a 9mm pistol and was driving a red colored pick up truck; working for a friend pruning and planting palm trees. As task force members were driving through that same parking lot, they spotted a red Chevy pick up truck full of palm branches and driven by a person who looked like Swanger. Swanger then stopped the truck to pick up a person that they recognized as the friend he was working for. Swanger’s friend then got into the driver’s seat and drove off.

“Once I saw him pick up his friend I was sure it was him,” said Investigator Mike Carr with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office who is assigned to the violent fugitive task force.

He was then followed by the task force who requested help from the Sheriff’s Office; they responded immediately with patrol and K9 Units and then with the task force they conducted a felony car stop on Bridlewood Road in Buelah. Swanger gave the name of “Billy Williams” but had no identification to prove who he was. After being detained for a while, he finally admitted that he was Swanger, but only after his finger prints certified who he really was.

“Even though we had a recent photo of him and were able identify him by one of his unusual tattoos, he was adamant right up until the end,” said U.S Marshals Investigator and Spokesman Dominic Guadagnoli. “I have never seen anyone go that far to deny who they were so persistently,” said Guadagnoli.

The 33 year old Swanger is wanted in Iowa on charges of First Degree Kidnapping and First Degree Sexual Assault by Sodomy with a Weapon. Police reports in Iowa state that after he assaulted and sodomized his victim, he confined her to the residence for two days before she could escape. Swanger is currently being held in the Escambia County Jail on no bond awaiting extradition to Iowa. If convicted, Swanger faces a mandatory life sentence without parole.