McHenry County man charged with holding girlfriend captive, beating

A 36-year-old McHenry County man is facing up to seven years in prison after his arrest Thursday on allegations he held a woman he knows captive for three days and repeatedly beat her until his father came home and let her free.

Jeffrey E. Mikell, of the 1500 block of South Valley Road in Bull Valley, is charged with aggravated domestic battery and unlawful restraint based on accusations a 29-year-old Woodstock woman made after going to a hospital seeking treatment Oct. 19.

Mikell was arrested without incident at his home Thursday and taken to the McHenry County jail, where he remained today in lieu of a $60,000 bond.

The woman told investigators she had been held against her will beginning the evening of Oct. 15 in a guesthouse in which Mikell resided. Over the next three days, McHenry County Sheriff's Sgt. Michael Cisner said, Mikell repeatedly struck the woman, leaving her with injuries to her head and body.

"He said he would kill her if she told anyone and if anyone asked, she should say her cat made her fall down the stairs," Cisner said.

In a court documents the woman filed last week seeking an order of protection, she states the incident occurred when Mikell attacked her while under the influence of heroin and alcohol. She states that Mikell's father drove her home Oct. 18. And though she received medical treatment the next day, she continues to experience fear and nightmares.

"I repeatedly live it over and over again," she states. "I wish he wouldn't do it anymore."

Mikell, who would face three to seven years in prison if convicted of aggravated domestic battery, is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 5.