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McDonald's Manager OK After Drive Into Terror

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By LISA A. DAVIS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 7, 2007

HOLIDAY - It wasn't like the 49-year-old McDonald's manager to be away so long while making the morning bank deposit.

It was even stranger for her not to answer her cell phone. When employees of the restaurant at 2909 U.S. 19 hadn't heard from her for hours, they called the Pasco County Sheriff's Office just before 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Detectives started looking for the woman, and her personal cell phone eventually led them to Lake County, where a deputy there found her partially bound in her car in the Ocala National Forest.

Soon deputies and detectives from the Lake County and Pasco sheriff's offices were learning about the woman's 12-hour nightmare.

Authorities haven't released the woman's name so she'll be protected until a suspect is arrested.

McDonald's employees declined to comment on the case.

This is the account pieced together by detectives in both counties:

Just as the woman does most mornings, she walked out of the McDonald's at 7 to make the deposit at a nearby bank. After driving a couple of blocks in her 2006 Chevrolet Malibu, she was accosted by a stranger hiding in the back seat, said Doug Tobin, a Pasco sheriff's office spokesman.

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The man told her to drive. They ended up in Astor, east of Ocala, nearly 150 miles from where they started.

As she motored north, the woman's cell phone in the trunk had left a radio wave trail as it passed cell towers on Interstate 75 and eventually to State Road 19, about a quarter-mile north of Forest Road 595, where she was found shortly after 7 p.m., according to Sgt. John Herrell, sheriff's spokesman in Lake County.

As Pasco detectives - with the help of a cellular service provider - homed in on the signal, they gave Lake authorities a description of the woman's car and the location of the tower that was pinging her signal.

"Literally in 20 minutes our deputy had located her," Herrell said. "It's pretty rural where they were."

Just off the road in the woods, the deputy spotted a car and found the woman sitting behind the wheel. Her captor had fled. Her mouth was either gagged or bound by a piece of clothing, he said. There appeared to be no other restraints.

"She was very traumatized," Herrell said, which explains why she hadn't driven for help. "It's not uncommon for someone who was that traumatized and hysterical to just freeze."

Her clothing was tattered and torn and her body was bruised and cut. Pasco detectives are investigating the possibility she was raped, Tobin said.

She was treated at a Lake County hospital, released and returned to Pasco, where she was interviewed by detectives on Thursday. Her car was brought back to Pasco to be processed for evidence.

She told authorities the man threatened her verbally and physically with a firearm and "sharp instruments," at times cutting her to remain in control, Herrell said.

Once they arrived in the Ocala area, the man gave her directions for hours, never ending up at an apparent destination. As the sun began to set around 5:30 or 6 p.m. Wednesday, Herrell surmised, the kidnapper made her turn off the road, secured her mouth, broke her business cell phone that was inside the car and ran.

He apparently didn't know about the phone in the trunk.

Detectives think he just wanted a ride at first but then took at least some of the bank deposit cash.

Deputies in the air and on the ground and police dogs searched the forest for the suspect. The dogs scented a track, but it disappeared before leading to anyone.

The abductor is described as being in his early 20s with a thin build; weighing about 160 pounds; and having dark red, chin-length hair, a red beard, a pale and pock-marked complexion and light-colored eyes, according to the woman's description. He wore an orange sweater, bright orange gloves, dark jeans and tan work boots. He also carried a backpack.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to contact Pasco Detective Lisa Schoneman at 1-800-854-2862, Ext. 7473.

"We'd just like to find out who did this and catch him," Tobin said. "He put this woman through quite an ordeal. ... Fortunately, she's alive to talk about it."

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083 or

ldavis@tampatrib.com.

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