2:44 p.m. - The Boone Police Department charged 22-year-old Brandon Rashad Burkett, of Raleigh, on first degree kidnapping and assault by strangulation charges early this morning.

Detective David Osborne said the Boone P.D. received a call from a female stating she was being held in a vehicle and being transported out of Boone against her will.

Police officers responded to the vehicle’s last known location.  The Watauga County Sheriff’s Office and the NC State Bureau of Investigation helped with the search and sheriff’s deputies were able to find the vehicle on Highway 421 near Deep Gap.  Authorities found that the victim had been physically assaulted and received a few minor injuries.

Burkett was taken into custody without incident and charged by the Boone Police Department.

Burkett was given a $30,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on March 29.

*Photo courtesy of the Boone P.D.