In 2025, city staff twice inspected Fargo apartments where woman was held hostage for 2 years

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

The Details

FARGO — Fargo city staff said they conducted inspections twice in 2025 at an apartment building where prosecutors say a woman was held hostage for two years.

City inspectors went into the apartment building at 4911 44th Ave. S. on Nov. 18 for a routine inspection, Fargo Inspections Director Shawn Ourandik told The Forum. Staff checked all the units on the first floors and found no issues, he said.

Because the inspectors didn’t notice any violations on the first floor, they spot-checked the rest of the building at the Osgood Townsite Apartments, Ourandik said, noting that is common practice. Inspectors returned on Dec. 18 for a follow-up inspection due to issues with emergency light illumination and a garbage disposal.

The inspector who conducted the apartment checks couldn’t recall if they entered Unit 306 during the two inspections, Ourandik said. That’s the unit where the Cass County State’s Attorney’s Office says Arturo Calzada-Becerril, 40, and Erendira Amoles, 41, chained a woman they knew to a bed for two years, starting Nov. 3, 2024.

“There is no note in the system showing the apartment was checked,” Ourandik said.

A maintenance worker heard cries for help on Nov. 3, 2026, and entered the apartment unit, according to court documents. The woman said Calzada-Becerril and Amoles beat and sexually assaulted her, a criminal complaint said.

Contributed / Cass County Jail

The Forum typically does not identify victims of sexual assault.

The room had a bucket for the woman to use as a bathroom and a webcam pointed at the bed with chains, court documents said. Tin foil covered the windows in the room, according to the complaint.

Calzada-Becerril and Amoles acknowledged restraining the woman, court documents said. The woman had mental health problems, Calzada-Becerril said, adding he feared she would run away if they didn’t lock her up, the complaint said.

Court documents indicate the couple never sought treatment or medical care for the woman, nor did the woman have a mental health diagnosis.

The woman was born in the U.S. but had family in Mexico, court documents said. Prosecutors alleged Calzada-Becerril and Amoles, who are both from Mexico, held the woman hostage to acquire immigration status.

Calzada-Becerril and Amoles have been charged with felony kidnapping. Calzada-Becerril also faces one count of domestic violence, while Amoles is charged with misdemeanor simple assault.

Both are being held at the Cass County Jail on a bond of $500,000.

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Inspection rules

The kidnapping case has raised questions about how the woman went unnoticed for two years. Apartment tenants in North Dakota are subject to inspections by the city and property management, sometimes annually and sometimes every several years.

Property Resource Group (PRG) owns the Osgood Townsite Apartments. PRG Chief Operating Officer Kyle Freier declined to talk about the case or say when property management last conducted inspections in the apartment complex, noting the Fargo Police Department investigation remains ongoing.

Residents sign a contract with PRG that follows state and federal laws, Freier noted.

“As far as entering a resident’s unit, there’s processes and regulations in place that go along with that,” he said.

Landlords can enter a unit at any time for a number of reasons, including for repairs and inspections, according to North Dakota law. Property management may enter “at any time in case of an emergency” or “during reasonable hours and in a reasonable manner” for inspections and improvements, North Dakota law says.

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North Dakota law doesn’t state how long notice must be given before an inspection.

Rental companies conduct inspections to meet insurance and lender-owner requirements, Freier said. The timeline of inspections varies from building to building, he said.

“Sometimes it’s annual,” he said.

The timeline of city inspections can vary as well, Ourandik said. City inspectors typically revisit a complex every three years if they find no violations, he said.

The last inspection at the Osgood Townsite Apartments before 2025 was in 2020, Ourandik said. The city had no complaints from the property, he said.

The city also provides notice of inspections to rental companies so property management can alert tenants, Ourandik said. City inspectors knock on a door and go in if no one is home, but tenants can refuse entry under North Dakota law, he said.

“If my inspector did look at 306 and there were no deficiencies and no evidence of odd behavior, we would not have entered any notes,” he said. “The lock that was on the bedroom door would have been noted if it was there during an inspection.”

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Gas prices fall below $4 a gallon as Thanksgiving approaches 1d ago Inspectors would have entered the unit in December if a problem needed to be reinspected after the November 2025 check or if a complaint came up, Ourandik said.

Fargo Mayor Josh Boschee has created the Advisory Council on Rental Housing. The group of renters, property managers and others first met on Nov. 4 and plans to meet once a month five more times.

“We will work through that committee and with other city staff if we make any changes,” Ourandik said when asked if the city should change how it conducts apartment inspections.

PRG has stayed in communication with its residents, Freier said, adding safety and security is a priority for the company. He thanked his team for cooperating with police.

“We respect everything that’s going on, and we want the best for everyone,” he said. “I do want to commend our team for dealing with some not-fun circumstances, to say the least, over the last week.”

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April Baumgarten is the Fargo city government reporter. The North Dakota native started her journalism career in 2011 and joined The Forum in February 2019. Readers can reach her at 701-241-5417 or [email protected].

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