Hearing is reset in case

SANDPOINT — A Kelso Lake man accused of possessing a missing woman’s debit card waived his right Wednesday to a timely preliminary hearing in Bonner County Magistrate Court.

Jordan Jarrad Law’s waiver resets the hearing, in which a judge determines if there’s sufficient evidence to justify a trial in 1st District Court, for June 12. Law is charged with criminal possession of a financial transaction card belonging to Rae Allison Berwanger, who was last seen on March 5.

Criminal defendants in Idaho have the right to a preliminary hearing within 14 days of their arrest if they are in custody or 21 days if they aren’t. Law, who acted as his own counsel during Wednesday’s hearing, secured his release with a $30,000 surety bond on May 15, court records show.

Law, 41, possessed the 54-year-old woman’s bank card from March 4-6, a criminal complaint alleges. Law was arrested after he was seen on surveillance cameras withdrawing $1,200 from the woman’s account at banks in Coeur d’Alene and Spirit Lake, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Berwanger was last seen by her brother at Law’s home, where she had taken up residence. She is described in court documents as Law’s former girlfriend.

Law, the affidavit said, told investigators he hadn’t seen Berwanger since selling her his Pontiac Grand Am for $800 and suspected she went to Alaska to meet up with somebody she became friends with on social media or to Florida to visit her son.

Law also told investigators that he later happened upon the Pontiac high-centered on a snowbank at Clagstone and Diagonal roads, although he later admitted that he was in possession of the vehicle the whole time but was unable to explain why he concocted the story, the affidavit said.

Berwanger is Caucasian who stands 5 feet 6 inches and weighs 170 pounds. She has fair skin, a scar on her abdomen and tattoos on her abdomen, left ankle and right shoulder. She’s also known to wear eyeglasses. Berwanger is also known as Rae Allison Arnold and Rae Allison King, according to the Idaho State Police Missing Persons Clearinghouse.

Those with information about Berwanger’s whereabouts are asked to call the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office at 208-263-8417.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.