BROTHER KIDNAPS SISTER BEFORE HER WEDDING

A Jamesport, Missouri, man faces a felony charge of kidnapping his sister a week before her wedding day. Conrad Kaufman, 25, allegedly confined his sister, Cindy Kaufman, to his truck at a residence in Jamesport before taking her to Illinois for the purpose of preventing her from marrying her fiance, John Graber. The couple plans to be married tomorrow – Saturday, July 1. Less than 24 hours after the incident, Cindy Kaufman was back at home with her fiance in Jamesport. At the root of the conflict is faith. Graber and Cindy Kaufman left their Amish community about a year ago and became a part of a Mennonite group. “And we were shunned,” Graber said of himself and his fiancee. Graber said he believes his soon-to-be in-laws were led to believe their daughter was not in a good situation, and that Conrad Kaufman and other family members may have been encouraged to act by others. “The community as a whole bears a responsibility in this,” Graber said. “They honestly believed, in their heart, they were rescuing her … against her will.”
* Leaving the Amish for those wild, over-the-top Mennonites! Oh, the scandal!
* On a scale of wildness, going from Amish to Mennonite is like going from vanilla ice cream to french vanilla ice cream.
* Did they throw her in the back of a buggy and take off?
* Did they call for a ransom? Oh, wait – I forgot. Amish.
* Now Cindy and John are going to have to do a lot of assigned-seat rearranging for the reception.
* As a show of good faith, both families are going to build a barn.