A Longview woman pleaded not guilty Thursday in Cowlitz County Superior Court to charges including lying to police about being abducted on her way to pick up her children.
Heather Mikael Oberman, 29, is charged with the felony of second-degree perjury and the gross misdemeanor of making a false statement to a public servant.
Investigation
Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Oberman on March 31 after a roughly weeklong hunt by four law enforcement agencies for her alleged kidnappers.
Oberman told her family of the alleged abduction when she arrived at her sister’s Woodland home March 22 roughly five hours late to pick up her kids and return her sister’s car.
Oberman told her family and Woodland officers the same detailed story: She was pulled over by men posing as police officers in two unmarked black SUVs on Interstate 5 around 5:30 p.m., court records state.
Oberman said the men placed her in the back seat of an SUV, where she blacked out. She said she awoke in a warehouse with another woman, and fled. While escaping, she hitched a ride with a woman who didn’t speak English. As they were driving down West Side Highway, Oberman said she jumped out of the vehicle and ran to safety.
Oberman arrived at her sister’s home around 10 p.m. March 22 without her sister’s car, court records state.
The next day, Oberman told officers she found the car parked at the Kelso Motel 6 on Minor Road. Court records show a Cowlitz County deputy reviewed the hotel’s surveillance footage and saw Oberman near the vehicle around 8 p.m. March 22, after she said she had already been abducted.
Perjury charge
Court records show Oberman signed a police statement March 23 that did not include details of her alleged abduction.
Oberman wrote under oath “Driving to get my kids in Woodland, got pulled over,” according to records. A Cowlitz County deputy said driving records show Oberman was not pulled over March 22, which created probable cause that Oberman committed perjury, according to the court records.
Oberman was released on a $1,500 bond March 31. Her Cowlitz County Superior Court trial is scheduled for June 28.
