Three men have been formally charged with kidnapping a 15-year-old girl from Alexandria, holding her captive for 29 days, sexually assaulting her, trying to drown her in a bathtub and attempting to hang her. 32-year-old Thomas Barker and 31-year-old Joshua Holby, both from Carlos, made their first court appearances Thursday along with 20-year-old Steven Powers of Benson. Barker and Holby are due back in court September 18th. The girl escaped Tuesday when the men left her alone. She swam across Thomas Lake and ran through a field to get help from a farmer. Alexandria Police Chief Richard Wyffels calls her “an amazing woman with a lot of strength.” He says about the alleged perpetrators, “Why does a human being do this? There’s no explanation.”