Grants Pass police arrested two people Monday morning on accusations that they kidnapped and tortured a pair of adult siblings, forcing them to work online and hand over their wages for months, according to police and court records.
Eastwood Mohammed Mannan, 35, and Cassie Jo Gudino, 27, are both charged with four counts of first-degree kidnapping and two counts of involuntary servitude, court records show. Mannan is also charged with second-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon, according to court records.
Mannan, whom police described as a cousin of his victims, and Gudino allegedly lured a 19-year-old woman from New York to Grants Pass in June 2022 with the promise of a job. Once she arrived, they forced her to do household chores and online work, taking her wages and torturing her, including by burning her with a torch, subjecting her to cold showers and hitting her when she “broke rules or made mistakes,” according to a probable cause affidavit.
Mannan and Gudino called the woman’s family in New York once a month requesting they send payment for her “dorm,” the affidavit states.
The two then allegedly lured her older brother, 22, from New York in March 2022. The alleged kidnappers placed parental control-style locks on the older brother’s phone and laptop, preventing him from using the internet freely or contacting his family. He wanted to leave the house in February, but feared the “consequences,” which included being beaten and starved, the affidavit states.
The 22-year-old escaped the residence at 1521 Ben Aire Circle on Sunday and called 911. He reported having broken ribs, and police saw a burn on his right forearm and a bruise on his mouth, which the man said he got from being struck, Grants Pass police said in a statement Tuesday.
Police executed a search warrant at the residence Monday morning where they arrested Mannan and Gudino and found the woman malnourished, underweight and visibly injured. She told police her brother had injured her in what sounded like “a coached statement,” court records show.
The siblings were taken to a hospital and will be sent back to their family in New York, Grant Pass police said.
Mannan and Gudino are in custody at the Josephine County Jail.
Investigators asked anyone with information to contact Grants Pass police at 541-450-6260.
