Provo police said the 20-year-old woman had gone to Matthew Henry Swann’s home in the city to buy a hat for her costume at about 10:50 a.m. on Monday.
The woman arranged to meet 39-year-old Swann after they started speaking on a social media marketplace, according to NBC affiliate KSLTV.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) said 600,000 people go missing in the U.S. every year.
NamUs said: “Fortunately, many missing children and adults are quickly found, alive and well. However, tens of thousands of individuals remain missing for more than one year.”
A Provo police affidavit obtained by the network said: “The student was inside Swann’s home and made the transaction. As the student prepared to leave, Swann pushed her into the bedroom and closed the door behind them.
“Swann then grabbed the student around the waist with both arms, took her phone away and attempted to remove his shirt.”
The woman told police she feared she was about to be raped and feared for her life. She then punched and bit Swann until she was able to flee, according to the network.
Swann was later arrested and charged with kidnapping. He is being held at the Utah County Jail.
Newsweek has contacted the Provo Police Department for comment.
In October, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office in California said a second suspect had been arrested in connection with the kidnapping and death of a family.
Police said in a Facebook statement: “Yesterday evening, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office, with the assistance of the California Department of Justice, arrested and booked Alberto Salgado into the Merced County Jail.”
Salgado is the brother of 48-year-old Jesus Manuel Salgado, the initial suspect who was taken into custody in connection with the crimes.
Also that month, a woman was charged with kidnapping and a string of other offences after she allegedly castrated her stepson.
Bracey Renee Byrd allegedly mutilated the 5-year-old in Wilson County, North Carolina, in July this year.
The child was reportedly taken to the Wilson Medical Center Emergency Department with third-degree burns and other injuries.
Staff reported the incident to the Department of Social Services, believing the child’s wounds could not be self-inflicted.
Byrd was later charged with attempted murder, felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury, malicious castration, first-degree kidnapping and three counts of felony child abuse with physical injury.
