Pierce County man arrested on suspicion of child abduction and rape in Grays Harbor County

Grays Harbor officials have arrested a Pierce County man accused of kidnapping and raping children.

According to a Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office news release Wednesday, officers arrested 44-year-old William Collin Snavely on Sept. 1 while responding to a report of a missing teenager.

The search began around 2 a.m. after the young teen allegedly left her parents’ home without her cellphone. The release states that her parents found evidence on her cellphone that she had left to meet someone she met online. Officers then used the person’s phone number to identify Snavely as a suspect.

Officers obtained a description of Snavely’s vehicle and searched the area. The sheriff’s office said they caught Snavely attempting to leave the area at a “high rate of speed,” the news release said.

When he was found, officers stopped Snavely, detained him and questioned him. However, the girl was not in his vehicle. The news release states officers later found the girl running on a road near her home.

“Thanks to the quick response of patrol officers and the extensive investigation by the Criminal Investigation Division, the individual was quickly apprehended and was not able to flee the county to continue to victimize the youth of our communities,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release.

Detectives have been investigating Snavely since the incident. The press release states that he traveled from Pierce County to Grays Harbor County to meet the girl.

Investigators also learned that Snavely had made this trip at least twice before to allegedly meet with two children and “engage in illicit sexual conduct,” the press release said.

According to the press release, officers took Snavely to the Grays Harbor County Jail on charges of three counts of first-degree child abduction and three counts of third-degree rape.

He was also charged with possession of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, trafficking in images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and two counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.

The press release states that the sheriff’s office is still investigating the case and is seeking additional information. The Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office can be reached at (360) 249-3711.