MAN KILLED IN KIDNAPPING CASE IDENTIFIED AS SOUTH DAKOTAN-Tulsa, OK- A man shot to death after authorities say he abandoned two persons he held captive and $25,000 ransom he had been paid was identifeid by police over the weekend as a South Dakotan who worked two blocks from the victims' house.
David James Mills, 24, had been living in Tulsa for four months and was employed as a laborer in the affluent Tulsa neighborhood where the kidnapping occurred Friday, said Tulsa Detective Sgt. Cliff Bowen.
Mills lived with his employer, who was doing remodeling work in the neighborhood, Bowen said. Police were not releasing the name of Mills' employer.
The identification was made through photographs and substantiated by conversations with relatives in South Dakota, Bowen said.
Bowen said police were asked by the man's parents not to reveal the name of the South Dakota town where they live. Neither of the kidnap victims was injured.
Mills died at St John Medical Center soon after he was wounded in a shootout in knee-deep floodwaters of the Arkansas River near downtown Tulsa, Police Chief Harry Stege said.
A man broke into the home of Fulton Collins about 9 am Friday. He pointed a gun at Susan Collins and ordered her to call her husband, Stege said.
The kidnapper demanded $25,000 ransom and ordered Fulton Collins to go to a telephone booth near downtown, where he would be contacted again, Stege said.
Susan Collins and her 2-year old daughter were ordered into the family station wagon. Meanwhile, Fulton Collins called the FBI, who contacted Tulsa police, Stege said.
About 10.45 am, Tulsa police sighted the Collins station wagon and set up observation using undercover officers in unmarked cars and the police helicopter.
"We could see him in the car with the child, but we didn't know where she (Susan Collins) was," said Maj Stanley Glanz.
Police tailed the vehicle until it stoppped at a convenience store. There the abductor phoned Fulton Collins and instructed him to drive onto the freeway and both vehicles pulled to the shoulder, police said.
"He said 'Throw the money in the back,' " Glanz said of the kidnapper. "Collins said he wanted to see his wife, and the guy told him to throw the money in the back again. He (Fulton Collins) went to the back window and threw the money in, and saw (Susan Collins) and said 'Are you all right?' She said 'I'm OK.'"
Glanz said the kidnapper then pulled away with the money and the victims in the station wagon.
He stopped at a light, Stege said. "There was a car in front of him, and we had a car beside him and behind him."
"When we swarmed him, the guy in front of him pulled away and left him an escape route," Stege said.
With several police vehicles in pursuit, the kidnapper sped through residential areas at speeds of up to 65 mph, police said.
"He had cars chasing him and the helicopter over him and we were setting up roadblocks in front of him," Stege said. He was pretty hemmed in.
The station wagon finally lurched over a curb and onto a jogging path beside the Arkansas River. The man leaped from the car and jumped over the crest of a bank, winding up in knee-deep water, Stege said.
The kidnapper fired a shot at Officer Richard Failla, who also was in knee-deep water after pursuing him over the bank.
"Failla fired four shots and the guy fired again, and (Charles) Barnhart fired," Stege said.
He said the suspect refused to drop his weapon, but fell backward into the water after being wounded at least twice.
Fulton Collins said he did not know why his family was picked as a target for abduction.
"We are just grateful that Susie and our daughter were not harmed in any way." he said.

Obituary-David J Mills, 24, formerly of Huron, died Friday, May 21st in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Funeral Mass will be at 1:00 p.m. Thursday, May 27th in the Church of the Resurrection with the Rev John I Murray officiating. Burial will be in the St Joseph cemetery, Howard. Scripture service will be said at 7.00 p.m. Wednesday in the Welter Funeral Home. Friends may call Wednesday afternoon and evening at the funeral home.
David James Mills was born January 6, 1958 in Dubuque, Iowa, the son of Mr & Mrs James H (Rita Peschong) Mills, 943 Colorado Avenue, SW. He attended Huron schools and was currently employed as a stone mason in Tulsa. Survivors include his his parents, of Huron; a sister, Sara Mills and a brother, Todd Mills, both of Huron and many aunts and uncles. Pallbearers will be Jim Couglin, Doug Bell, Jim Flolo, Jim Peschong, Terry Ault and Gary Hershman.