Hungry Horse couple charged with abducting baby

A young couple from Hungry Horse pleaded not guilty July 3 to allegedly abducting their one-year-old son and fleeing in a stolen pickup truck to Washington.

Beau Blasius, 28, and Bryndi Gibson, 23, were charged with felony custodial interference and felony theft. Each charge carries a 10-year prison sentence.

Blasius was also charged with felony burglary, which carries a 20-year sentence, and felony issuing a bad check in a separate case, which carries a 10-year sentence.

According to court documents, the couple lost custody of their child because of drug problems, and the baby was being raised by his grandparents in Kalispell. Blasius allegedly showed up at the grandparents’ home on April 27 asking for the baby. When the grandfather refused, Blasius allegedly said he’d be back.

Later that night, Flathead County sheriff’s deputies responded to the grandparents’ house, where someone had used a large rock to smash through an outside door and then kicked in an upstairs bedroom door. The baby was missing, and an Amber Alert was issued.

Deputies soon learned that Blasius and Gibson had been seen loading a white pickup truck with their belongings earlier that day. They also learned that Gibson had sold her car one day earlier, and deputies met with a man who reported his 1994 white Chevy S-10 missing. The man said he had loaned the truck to the couple in the past, but not this time.

Police in Fife, Wash., soon reported they had located the stolen truck. When questioned, Blasius allegedly admitted taking the baby from its crib. He’s being held in the Flathead County Detention Center on a $75,000 bond. Gibson is being held on a $50,000 bond. Both have been assigned public defenders and have a hearing scheduled for July 17.

Blasius also faces a felony charge of issuing 24 bad checks totaling $1,165 on a Glacier Bank account from November 2002 through March 2013. The checks were mostly used at restaurants, convenience stores and casinos, including the Back Room Restaurant and the Blue Moon Nite Club. Blasius pleaded not guilty to this charge on July 3 and has a hearing scheduled for Aug. 28.