Fugitive to be returned to Ohio to face kidnapping charges

Brian Scott Mayhorn, 31, appeared before a U.S. magistrate Wednesday.

A rape charge involving a Columbiana County, Ohio girl under 13 was temporarily dropped against Mayhorn so he could be tried first on the federal charges, authorities said. He faces up to 20 years in prison on the kidnapping charges if convicted.

Mayhorn is accused of taking three Minerva, Ohio, siblings - Tyler Brown, 14; Amanda Palmer, 11; and Wayne Palmer, 10 - more than two weeks ago.

The children and Mayhorn were discovered in Mayhorn's car on Monday when his car was stopped by a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper.

The NHP trooper said the children were dirty but appeared unharmed.

Mayhorn has maintained that the children willingly left with him on July 13 and went across the country in the hopes of not being discovered.

"I don't see where I did anything wrong," he told the Akron Beacon Journal. "If it came down to it, if I had to do it again, I would."

The children were still in protective custody in Reno on Wednesday and had met with their mother, Michele Palmer. Preparations were being made to return the children to Ohio.

Tim McNicol, an assistant prosecuting attorney for Columbiana County in Ohio, said the county agreed Wednesday to delay the rape case and allow the federal case to be heard first. The rape case carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

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