Details in criminal confinement case against Huntingburg dentist and wife emerge

Investigative documents in the case against a Huntingburg dentist and his wife detail the couple keeping a teen girl in a cage in their home west of Huntingburg.

According to court documents, when executing the search warrant on the home, officers located a wooden cage containing a mattress and pan for the child to use to go to the restroom when she was kept there overnight. The cage was labeled with the child’s name.

The couple, Alan Friz, 57, and Aimee Friz, 36, of 5275 W. County Road 700S, were both charged with Level 5 felony counts of neglect of a dependent and Level 6 felony

counts of criminal confinement. They made their initial appearance in Dubois County Circuit Court Thursday afternoon and were denied bail as the Dubois County Prosecuting Attorney Anthony Quinn requested a 72-hour hold to complete the investigation. He told the judge more charges could be expected against the couple when they appeared in court on Monday.

According to court documents, police were contacted about a child described as “mentally retarded” that was out of control at the Friz residence. When officers arrived, they made contact with Mr. and Mrs. Friz and were directed to the garage where the teenage girl in question was located.

During a discussion with the girl, she told police that her grandfather had become angry with her while she was bouncing a ball in the house. He took the ball and wouldn’t give it back because the other children in the home were completing their studies at the time and the girl was being disruptive.

The two were involved in a scuffle, according to court documents, and both ended up on the floor. After that, police were called to the home.

While deputies interviewed Mrs. Friz, she told them the girl had made threats about killing her and her unborn child. When officers offered to take the girl to the hospital for evaluation, Mrs. Friz told them they were attempting to find the girl help on their own.

Deputies contacted Division of Family and Children regarding the incident and a forensic interview with the girl was conducted at about 3:30 p.m. that day. During the interview, she told investigators she was forced to sleep in a cage at night and other times. She described the cage in the home.

After being granted a search warrant for the residence, deputies contacted the Indiana State Police to assist with the search of the home. During the search, officers located a wooden cage in a closet of a bedroom in the home. It was described as being about 4-by-8 in size and had a mattress in it. It was labeled with teen girl’s name above the entrance. It did not have running water or electricity running to it and a pan was left for the girl to use as a bathroom while she was in it. During those times, the cage was locked with a padlock and chain.

After locating the cage, deputies placed Mr. Friz in custody and asked about the cage. According to court documents, Friz admitted she was kept in the cage overnight but it was to protect his wife and other children since the girl had allegedly made threats to harm them.

When the division of family and child services arrived to remove the children, they found that Mrs. Friz had left the home with all them while police were gathering information. Dubois County Dispatch was directed to ping Mrs. Friz’ phone to attempt to locate her. An officer contacted her and directed her to return home with the children but Mrs. Friz hung up on the officer. According to court documents, Mrs. Friz was eventually found to be in St. Louis. She was directed to bring the children back.

On Thursday, before Mr. Friz was scheduled to make an appearance in court, a deputy recognized Mrs. Friz outside the courthouse and place her under arrest.

Both are being held without bond in the Dubois County Security Center.

While searching the residence, a man identified as Kenneth L. Le Fevre, 24, arrived and told deputies he rented a room at the residence. He became very disruptive, according to police, and was asked to leave the property by deputies. He refused to leave and had to be physically removed by deputies.

According to police, they gave Le Fevre multiple opportunities to leave and warned him he would be arrested if he didn’t comply. He would not leave and his actions made the scene very chaotic so deputies took him into custody.

Le Fevre was arrested for Resisting Law Enforcement a Class A Misdemeanor. He is currently being held on a $500 bond.