JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. -- A Johnson County woman connected to one of the most famous names in the Kansas City metropolitan area was the target of what authorities characterized as a foiled kidnapping and robbery plot.

The woman is the daughter of J.C. Nichols, who developed the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Mo., according to her Prairie Village, Kan., neighbor Evelyn Philips.

"It's scary," Philips said. "We don't think about that happened to us here."

Investigators got a tip that William Larry Fletcher Jr., 42, of Kansas City, Kan., planned to invade the woman's home and kidnap her, but Prairie Village police, Johnson County sheriff's deputies and FBI agents took him into custody before he could put his plan into action, authorities said.

"He's been in prison before for similar, armed robbery-type things, so once we find somebody like that, we need to act quickly, get him custody and get him back off the streets," said Deputy Tom Erickson, of the sheriff's office.

Fletcher, who made his first court appearance Tuesday in Johnson County District Court in Olathe, Kan., was part of a contracting crew that worked at the woman's upscale house.

Philips wondered if Fletcher knew that the woman was part of the Nichols family.

"The both of them are very low keyed. They don't flaunt their money," Philips said. "They're just perfect neighbors."

Fletcher has previously been convicted six times in Johnson County for crimes such as theft, burglary and aggravated robbery. He was being held in jail Tuesday in lieu of $500,000 bond.