Man accused of kidnapping and attacking woman in Colorado captured in Kansas

A man who allegedly attacked and kidnapped a woman in Colorado has been arrested following a nearly two-month search.

The Grand Junction Police Department has been searching for 35-year-old Bryan Groehler after authorities say he seriously wounded a woman on New Year's Eve. Officers were called to the area of N. 12th Street and Village Center Way around 10:30 p.m. that night when they received a report of a woman screaming and a man laughing.

Responding officers found some women's clothes in the road, but neither person involved was still in the area.

Shortly after, the Grand Junction Regional Communication Center received a call stating a woman had run into a business in the 600 block of Horizon Drive. The woman told them that a man with a gun was attempting to kill her. When officers arrived, they found that the woman was seriously injured. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.

The woman told police that a man she knew picked her up in his vehicle, then struck her in the face and pointed a gun at her. She said the man refused to let her leave the vehicle, but she was able to escape when the vehicle stopped at the first location.

Investigators identified Groehler as the suspect and issued a warrant for his arrest on Jan. 1, but at some point afterwards, he left the state.

Deputies with the Washington County Sheriff's Office in Kansas found him on Feb. 21 and placed him under arrest. Grand Junction police said Groehler is still in custody in Kansas, and they're working with the sheriff's office and the Mesa County District Attorney's Office to have him extradited to Mesa County.

Groehler is facing charges of second-degree kidnapping, first-degree assault, felony menacing, possession of a weapon by a previous offender, prohibited use of a firearm and domestic violence.

The attack remains under investigation.