Bullitt County woman charged with kidnapping, assault makes 1st court appearance

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Bullitt County woman, charged with kidnapping and assault, appeared in court Thursday for the first hearing in the case.

Nicole Stivers was brought to the courtroom, but the hearing was delayed, and she never actually faced a judge. According to a court-appointed attorney, Stivers is in the process of hiring a private attorney to represent her, so the hearing will be delayed until Nov. 19.

Stivers was arrested Nov. 4 on charges of kidnapping (with serious physical injury) and first-degree assault, according to documents obtained by WDRB News. In an arrest report, investigators say Stivers has admitted to stabbing a man in the abdomen, forcing him at knifepoint into her vehicle, driving to Indiana and forcing him into the Ohio River in September.

The victim, who according to an arrest report was Stivers' acquaintance, hasn't been found yet. His name has not yet been released, but police have been searching for Justin Burt, a 32-year-old man missing from Bullitt County who was last seen around 2 a.m. on Sept. 4. Burt's family and Bullitt County Sheriff Walt Sholar said the man was last seen on surveillance video heading in the direction of Stivers' home.

"He was walking away from his mother's house on Angelina (Road), towards the street and believed to be into the direction of friends of his, Mr. Brandon Stivers and Mrs. Nicole Stivers," Sholar told WDRB News in October. "And the Stiverses have not been seen since the first weekend in September."

Sholar and the prosecution, however, have not called the Stiverses suspects in Burt's disappearance.

Stivers, who has pleaded not guilty to her charges, is being held at the Bullitt County Detention on a $1 million bond.

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