Missing Girls..

[SEATJERKER]

...KEEP AN EYE OUT WEST FOLKS......

Girls Taken at Gunpoint From Lovers' Lane
Updated 12:52 PM ET August 1, 2002

- Police in Southern California are searching for a man they believe kidnapped two teenage girls at gunpoint early this morning from a popular "make-out lane" outside Los Angeles.

Two couples sitting in separate cars were interrupted by the same suspect, who bound the girls' boyfriends with duct tape then drove off with the girls in a sport utility vehicle that belongs to one of the young men, police said.

The two girls ? Tamera Brooks, 16, and Jaqueline Marris, 17 ? did not know each other, authorities said. The abduction took place in Lancaster, about 60 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Police said that as far as they know, no one has been hurt, but they say the suspect has to be considered dangerous because he had threatened the couples with a semiautomatic handgun and was driving a Saturn that had been carjacked in Las Vegas July 18.

"This person's armed and dangerous," Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Joe Efflandt said. "We don't know what his motive is. There's one vehicle that's already been taken in a carjacking. This is the second vehicle that's been taken in a carjacking at gunpoint. So it's extremely important we find this individual right away."

Police are using helicopters and planes to search the canyons and desert around the kidnap scene, and other police departments in the region have been notifed to be on the lookout.

The suspect was described as a Hispanic man between 30 and 40 years old. Police said that neither of the two young men got a good enough look at the suspect to contribute to a composite drawing, but the FBI was trying to get a sketch of the Nevada carjacking suspect and may do a profile of him as well.

The suspect drove to the scene in the Saturn, and at some point doused it with gasoline, as though he intended to set it on fire, police said.

"It's a life-and-death situation," L.A. County Sheriff's Department Capt. Tom Pigott said. "We're just trying to locate these young girls."

He said that police have already received calls about possible sightings of the vehicle and were investigating them.

The gunman tied one boyfriend to a post with duct tape and blindfolded him before leaving with the girls in a white-and-brown Ford Bronco that belonged to one of the males, authorities said.

The boyfriend of one of the two girls said he didn't pay any attention when the suspect's car pulled up near them, because people were always coming and going from the area. He said he didn't notice the man until he was standing beside the car with his gun drawn.

"When he walked up to us at first with a gun, that's why we turned, and he told us not to look at him and that's when he asked for our money and the keys to my truck," said the young man, identified only as "Frank."

"He said, if you stay calm then nothing would happen, all he wanted was to make some easy money and that he'd leave us alone," he said.

A command post was set up and sheriff's deputies notified the FBI and the U.S. Border Patrol about the missing girls.


aMEN...

[Andy]

Isn't it nice this story has a happy ending? The girls, though assaulted were returned to their homes without serious physical injury and the bad guy will not have to go on trial. Gun control is a good sight image and a steady hand.

Stay healthy,
Andy

[Keith_Hixson]

It is possible that the bad guy's relatives will sue the Deputy Sheriif that shot him.

I was thrilled that the girls made it through mostly intact. Prayers are answered.

Keith