A court date has been set for the three fraternity members charged last week with kidnapping a female student and holding her against her will.
Corey Skelton, 22, of Kosciusko; Frederick Oglesby, 21, of Hattiesburg; and Donovan Carroll, 22, of Canton, will have their initial appearance on March 26 in Municipal Court.
Starkville Police Department Lt. Troy Outlaw said the incident occurred at 411 Scales St. and that it could be linked to a Twitter trend dubbed “kidnapping season.”
He said another officer, who has a Twitter account, searched the term in the search engine on the site and found numerous references.
“All the ones that I saw were associated with Greek organizations,” Outlaw said.
A warrant was issued for the three men Thursday night after the victim filed a report stating that she had been bound with tape and held against her will.
Outlaw said the girl was visiting the 411 Scales St. residence when the incident unfolded.
“She was a friend of theirs. She was there with them. It wasn’t an abduction or anything,” he said.
SPD Chief David Lindley said after the suspects bound the victim’s hands and feet, she asked to be released and the suspects declined. He said they then called some friends of the victim and requested an undisclosed ransom.
“They requested some goods be brought to them in exchange for the victim,” Lindley said. “It doesn’t matter if it was 50 cents.”
The three suspects are members of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, and Lindley said he recognizes the fact that this may have been a prank taken too far but that does not negate the illegality of the suspects’ actions.
  “Whether it was some attempt at humor on their part, we are still trying to determine,” he said. “But number one, it is illegal; number two, it is in the poorest of judgment — especially with the (abduction) hoax last week.”
 
Bryan J. A. Kelly, The Alpha Phi Alpha national communications director, said the organization was aware of the allegations against the three members. He requested that all other questions be submitted via email. Questions were submitted but had not been responded to late Monday afternoon.
Cedric Gathings, Pan-Hellenic director for fraternity and sorority life, declined comment and directed to the Dean of Students office.
Tabor Mullen, assistant dean of students at MSU, declined to speak on any individual situations regarding disciplinary action.
The investigation is still ongoing.