IMPERIAL, Neb. (AP) - Prosecutors have dropped charges against a man accused of involvement in the disappearance and slaying of a woman in southwest Nebraska.
The charges were dropped Tuesday for Russell Mann, of Enders. He'd been charged with two counts of being an accessory. The charges can be refiled later.
The charges stemmed from the disappearance and killing of 22-year-old Annika Swanson and the kidnapping and assault of another woman who's now safe. Two other people - Kevin German, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Keonna Carter, of Taylorsville, Utah - have pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping.
They're accused of leaving Swanson, of Imperial, in a drainage pipe in a Chase County pasture on Nov. 14. Court records say Carter told investigators that German beat up Swanson and, accompanied by Carter, forced Swanson down into the pipe.
Using Carter's information, authorities found and recovered Swanson's lightly clad body from the pipe. Her father had reported her missing three days earlier.