Federal kidnapping case added after rescue of 10-year-old Canby girl

The apartment where officers rescued a kidnapped 10-year-old girl was about nine miles from her Canby home. The prosecution now reaches into two court systems: Vince Edgar Chavez faces a new federal kidnapping complaint alongside ten state felony charges stemming from the alleged attacks on her and her older sister. ^{9 3 14}

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon announced the federal complaint on November 3, 2026. The rescue happened on October 28—not when video of the operation circulated in November. Chavez remains held without bail at the Clackamas County Jail. The complaint is an accusation, not a conviction, and he is presumed innocent unless proved guilty. ^{14 8 7}

The distinction matters beyond the calendar. Officers recovered the child alive, but she was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries and further evaluation. Her 12-year-old sister was also hospitalized after an alleged hammer attack. Neither child’s current medical condition is established in the available reporting. ^{8 7}

The search began overnight at the family’s apartment in Canby, south of Portland. According to KATU’s reporting on a court affidavit, the girls’ mother said she woke around 1:40 a.m. after hearing someone talking. She saw a man she did not recognize rush her younger daughter out the door, then watched a white van drive away. Her older daughter was bleeding from the head. ⁹

Prosecutors allege Chavez repeatedly struck the older girl with a hammer, knocking her unconscious. The younger child later told investigators that he struck her with the same hammer before forcing her into the van. Those accounts describe allegations in an unresolved case, not findings of guilt. ^{7 9}

The affidavit reporting says the attacker left a hammer and a backpack at the home; the backpack contained items including rope and zip ties. The mother identified Chavez as someone who had previously associated with her and who, she said, had expressed sexual interest in the younger child. That establishes an alleged prior connection, not a family relationship. The available account does not establish how he entered the apartment. ⁹

Investigators believed the missing child’s life was in immediate danger and obtained emergency cellphone records. The FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team analyzed those records while Oregon City police conducted a grid search. Together, those efforts directed officers to a residence on Pleasant Avenue in Oregon City, where a white van associated with Chavez was nearby. Canby was the alleged abduction site; Oregon City was the rescue site. Both are in the Portland area. ^{14 8}

At approximately 1:46 p.m. on October 28, FBI agents saw Chavez access the van and return to the residence, according to the federal charging announcement. Officers then made an emergency entry based on probable cause and the immediate risk to the child. The U.S. Marshals Service said Chavez tried to escape through the back of the house and was arrested without further incident. ^{14 8}

The entry brought together the Marshals Service’s Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force, Clackamas County SWAT, Oregon City police, Washington County’s Tactical Negotiations Team and the FBI. Canby police and the Clackamas County Major Crimes Team also worked on the investigation. This was a search using both phone analysis and officers on the ground, followed by a coordinated entry—not a recovery attributable to any one agency alone. ^{8 3 14}

Inside, officers found the child bound with duct tape in a zipped duffel bag in a bedroom closet, according to KATU’s affidavit reporting. The Marshals Service’s initial account described her tied up in a closet; the county release described duct tape and a duffel bag. Those accounts fit together rather than describe different rescues. Other people at the residence told investigators they had not known she was there. ^{9 8 3}

The child told investigators she had been strangled and sexually assaulted after being driven away, then taken to the apartment. She described another strangulation before losing consciousness and said she woke as officers entered. Her recovery ended the immediate captivity described in the allegations; it did not establish that she had escaped serious harm. ⁹

CNN’s November 2 report described a 13-hour search. The more detailed chronology supports roughly twelve hours: the reported disappearance around 1:39 a.m. and the federal account’s 1:46 p.m. sighting were about twelve hours apart, with entry following the sighting. The exact recovery minute has not been established, so the approximate times should not be treated as a minute-by-minute reconstruction. ^{2 7 14}

The new complaint charges kidnapping a minor. Federal prosecutors allege Chavez transported the child by vehicle across multiple jurisdictions and used public roads and a cellphone in furtherance of the offense. Those are the grounds the announcement cites for federal jurisdiction. It does not allege, in the material available here, that he crossed a state border. ¹⁴

That creates an additional prosecution, not an eleventh count in the state arraignment and not a replacement for the state case. The FBI’s Portland office, Oregon City police, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office and local partners are investigating the federal case; Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate Rochat is prosecuting it. The announcement establishes that Chavez had been charged by November 3, but the complaint’s precise filing-stamp date is not available. ¹⁴

At his October 29 state arraignment, Chavez faced one count each of first-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree burglary and second-degree assault, plus two counts of first-degree sodomy and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon. Circuit Judge Jeffrey S. Jones granted prosecutors’ request to hold him without bail. ³

The official releases also differ on Chavez’s age: Clackamas County identified him as 35 on October 29, while federal prosecutors identified him as 36 on November 3. Neither release explains the change. There is no basis in the available evidence to assume either a birthday or an error. ^{3 14}

The next specifically scheduled proceeding is a state arraignment on an indictment on November 5. No subsequent federal hearing outcome, plea, trial date or final disposition is established in the available reporting. The rescue is confirmed; the allegations still have to be proved, and the sisters’ recovery remains a separate, unanswered concern. ^{3 14}