Families Speak About Locust Grove Hostage Situation

By Jeffrey Smith, The News On 6

The family of a Green Country motel clerk held hostage by an out-of-state soldier is speaking out.

But the mother of that North Carolina paratrooper tells The News on 6 that the U.S. Army failed to protect her son.

The attack happened inside this Best Western motel last week. Locust Grove police say 19-year-old Christian Musteen held the night clerk hostage at gunpoint.

"It is quite a shock to have this happen to anybody. And now it's in the courts hands, and I hope they deal with it," said the victim's husband.

Police say he demanded she take off her clothes, but she was able to trip the silent alarm before anything else happened. Her family is traumatized.

"It's all just like a long night, you know. You never know what's going to set her off, what's going to scare her. And she never was like that before," the husband said.

Musteen should not have been anywhere near the motel that night. He was AWOL from Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Related Story 11/18/2009: North Carolina Teen Jailed For Locust Grove Hostage Situation

"I just think Christian was in a bad place and made some bad choices," said Tracy Knight, Musteen's Mother.

She says her son joined the Army at age 17.

"He graduated a year and a half early just to go into the military. He believed in what this country stood for," Knight said.

Musteen has been stationed at Fort Bragg for the last year, serving as a paratrooper. He severely injured his back on a training jump over the summer.

His mother says the Army failed to treat his worsening physical and mental state.

"This is just a nightmare. This isn't our son. I mean, we just want him home," Knight said.

The victim's family, who asked their names be withheld, say they can sympathize with a soldier in distress but they say they deserve justice.

"If the boy needs help, he needs help but this sure wasn't the way to go about it. And that's all we got to say," the victim's husband said.

Musteen is charged with kidnapping and attempted rape. He's still in jail being held on a $1,000,000 bond.

Tracie Knight says she is considering legal action against the United States Army.