BRAINERD, Minn.: Authorities say a man is in custody after allegedly kidnapping a pregnant woman and her four children, prompting an AMBER Alert near Brainerd Friday morning. The victims were unharmed.

The pregnant victim’s mother said she was in Duluth with her husband receiving medical treatment when she heard the news.

At first, authorities feared the worst at the time, assuming her daughter and grandchildren were dead inside the burning home. The mother said the statewide Amber Alert began when Chad Aanerud, 35, assaulted her daughter in the family home.

Some of the children went to get help. That’s when a neighbor, Lyle Maske, 62, arrived and Aanerud shot him in the driveway.

“When I saw my daughter they beat her to the bone, he is very traumatized,” said the victim’s mother.

She said her daughter and Aanerud were ex-couples and that her daughter is pregnant with Aanerud’s child.

While the family is grateful the victims escaped the ordeal, they lost the home they all shared.

Around 7:15 a.m., authorities stopped Aanerud’s vehicle in Morrison County. He was arrested and the woman and children were found unharmed in the vehicle, the sheriff’s office said.

Authorities identified the fatally shot victim as 62-year-old Lyle Maske. According to authorities, both the shooting and the kidnapping are under investigation.

The sheriff’s office said Aanerud is also suspected of setting fire to a house on the property where the fatal shooting occurred.

The mother said Aanerud then set the house on fire and left with the victims.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension later confirmed that the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office canceled the AMBER Alert and thanked everyone who assisted in the search.

You can read the original report of the VNL story. here.

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