Church Condemned After Woman Claims She Was Held ‘Captive’ Inside
A St. Louis church has been condemned by city authorities after an injured, bound woman told cops over the weekend she’d been held captive there.
The entrance to the Mount of Olives Ministry now features a sign warning visitors to “keep away” from the “unsafe” premises, according to a photo published by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A city building inspector reportedly signed off on condemning the building on Monday.
The official reason given for the church’s closure is that it “is used or intended to be used for purposes which are illegal and may endanger the health and safety of persons.” No further details have been provided on what led authorities to that conclusion.
But just a few days earlier, a woman who was found bleeding from the head near the church reportedly showed police a room inside where she said she had been held captive and beaten; officers reported finding a bucket filled with feces and urine inside the room.
The woman, who has not been named, identified three men who were subsequently charged with second-degree kidnapping and third-degree assault: 32-year-old Pasi Heri, 28-year-old Grace Kipendo, and 25-year-old Mmunga Fungamali.
It was not immediately clear what role the three men played at the church, though Kipendo was described by one congregant as a “respected leader” in comments to local outlet KSDK News.
Chris Combs, a lawyer for Kipendo, said his client, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, had “nothing to do with” any crime against the woman.
According to him, the woman was “suffering from several mental health issues” and her family had brought her to the church to “get help.”
“I believe in the coming weeks a lot of light will be shed on this and an entirely different story will come out,” he was quoted telling KSDK, adding that a “30-day fast” had been underway at the church when police showed up.
The three suspects are due for a court hearing next Monday.
Adding more mystery to the case, Assistant Circuit Attorney Chris Faerber said during a court hearing Monday that the unnamed victim had been contacted by people while she was receiving treatment in a hospital, and one unknown individual claimed to be a district attorney—a dead giveaway of an imposter, since that title isn’t used in Missouri.
The Mount of Olives Ministry has more than 75 congregants, most of whom hail from central Africa and speak French or Swahili.
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