Man Arrested For Aggravated Robbery

The worst possible fears turned into the best possible on Monday when Wills Point police found a missing person alive, if not well.

Wills Point resident Gerald Glenn Stanford, 55, was found bound, gagged and hidden inside the residence of 306 Broadmore Ave. in Wills Point, eight hours after he was listed as a missing person.

Octavius Thompson, 27, also of Wills Point, was taken into custody in Dallas for theft of a vehicle. Those charges have been dropped. He is now being charged with aggravated robbery.

Stanford and Thompson reportedly shared the residence at Broadmoor with Stanford’s grandmother, Molly Stanford. Gerald failed to show up for work at 5 a.m., and by 9 a.m., concerned persons went to the residence to check on him. The home was found in disorder and police were called. Molly Stanford, 97, and described as bed-ridden was in the residence unharmed.

The residence was described as being in "disarray," by Wills Point Police Chief Scott Johnson, who said papers were strewn about the floor.

"We found blood in different locations within the house, and because of the amount of blood, we treated it as a homicide," Johnson said.

Police received an evidentiary search warrants, and Smith County crime scene investigators were called in to assist.

Gerald Stanford’s car was also reported as stolen, and the low jack theft alert was initiated. Dallas police were then able to locate the car at the Lamplighter Hotel at Interstate 30 and Loop 12. Dallas police and Texas Rangers waited for Thompson to return to the car, and arrested him at that location, at approximately 6 p.m.

Under questioning, Thompson revealed that the victim was hidden inside the house at Broadmore.

Johnson, who described Stanford as "very small-framed," (approximately 5’1" and under 100 pounds), said the victim was found "rolled up like a ball, tied, gagged and artfully hidden." Stanford was care-flighted with head injuries.

It was estimated that in addition to the vehicle, $300 had been stolen, but none of the cash was recovered. Thompson, a 2001 graduate of Wills Point High School, was taken from Dallas to the Van Zandt County Detention Center.

Stanford had little memory of the incident, however, police estimate that assault occurred in the late afternoon of Sunday, November 1.