Warrant issued for state couple

DENVER (AP) - Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a Maryland couple charged with kidnapping their 22- year-old daughter from a religious cult

The warrant was issued after Dr. Leonard Deitz and his wife Esther, of Silver Spring, Md., refused to attend a hearing before a Denver district judge. The couple plans to fight extradition as a delaying tactic until they find out more about the case, their attorney said Monday.

However the lawyer, Maurice Dunie, said they could change their minds and return to Colorado voluntarily.

The Deitzes were among 10 people - including a Denver policeman - indicted Jan. 11 for the April 8 kidnapping of Emily Deitz, a follower of the Guru Maharaj Ji and his Divine Light Mission

The indictment charged that she was taken from a Denver alley by three men who threw her in a van and drove away She escaped from her captors 12 days later by jumping from a second-story window and hitchhiking to a truck stop

Dunie said he was surprised the couple bad been indicted for the kidnapping since they were "acting out of love" for their daughter

Deitz is charged with second-degree kidnapping, conspiracy and false imprisonment. His wife is charged with conspiracy

Mark Gerard Roggeman, a 10-year veteran of the Denver Police Department, also was charged in connection with kidnapping. Roggeman allegedly located Emily for her parents and observed the kidnapping. He has been suspended from the force without pay pending the outcome of the case.