Wyoming Man Charged With Driving 16 Hours to Kidnap, Rape Girl He Met on Snapchat

A Kemmerer man faces up to 260 years in prison after prosecutors say he drove 16 hours to Oklahoma to kidnap a 12-year-old girl he met on Snapchat, then brought her back to Wyoming and sexually assaulted her repeatedly. Christopher Steven Gravenmeier, 31 (born 1994), was charged Wednesday in Lincoln County District Court with four counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor, two counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, and kidnapping.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, the girl told investigators she met Gravenmeier on Snapchat several months before the abduction. They exchanged messages daily, and Gravenmeier allegedly sent her nude photos and videos of himself masturbating. He told her he planned to come get her. But she said she was surprised when he showed up unannounced at her home in Ponca City, Oklahoma.

On April 22, the girl—who had been reported missing days earlier—called her grandmother from a stranger’s phone at a Kemmerer gas station, saying she had been abducted and woke up in Wyoming. Troopers seized the phone and took Gravenmeier into custody.

The girl told investigators she snuck out her bedroom window because she was afraid of what Gravenmeier might do to her or her family if she refused. During the drive back to Wyoming, she said, he made her log out of all her apps so she could not be tracked and hid her phone in a bag. He stopped at hotels along the route, where she was forced into sexual acts.

When they arrived at Gravenmeier’s parents’ home, his mother reportedly greeted the girl and printed her a 3D turtle. Gravenmeier then took the girl to the basement, where she was sexually assaulted as many as 10 times. He allegedly choked and slapped her until “she could not breathe.” Investigators later recovered bedding, towels, clothes, and tissues stained with blood. The girl said Gravenmeier threatened her with a knife and told her, “if she turned him in, he would kill her and make it worth going to prison.”

Gravenmeier’s parents told investigators their son brought a girl home for about 36 hours. They said he verified her age with an ID they thought might be fake, and that the girl kept her head and face covered with a hoodie. At some point, the parents said, their son panicked and said he had to get her out of the house.

During questioning, Gravenmeier admitted driving to Oklahoma to pick up the girl. He became “very emotional,” crying and slumped over in his chair, and said “he was really sorry for what happened.” He then asked for an attorney, and the interview stopped. He is scheduled for arraignment May 11.