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Apparent kidnapping ends in Liberty
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A woman was forced into the trunk of her car Wednesday night in Richmond Hill and driven to Liberty County, according to police.

The apparent abduction happened around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday on Ponderosa Street, off of Highway 17 in Richmond Hill, Richmond Hill Police Department Chief Billy Reynolds said. The incident is still under investigation.

The victim had just stopped at the nearby Arby’s and pulled her car, a 2009 Dodge Charger, over on Ponderosa Street to clean up a spilled drink when a man reportedly approached her car and told the woman he had a gun, according to a police report.

The suspect, described as a black male with a gray beard, threatened the woman and got into the car on the passenger’s side, according to the report. The suspect made the woman drive south on Highway 17.

She told police she screamed at the suspect and he made her stop and get into the trunk of the car, according to the police report.

The suspect drove the woman’s car to the intersection of Freedman Grove and Dudley roads in Liberty County, parked it and fled the scene.

The woman, after not hearing any noise for a while, freed herself by a quick-release latch in the trunk, Reynolds said.

She had called a friend from the trunk. The friend then notified police. Once the woman got out of the trunk, she drove it back to the intersection of Freedman Grove Road and Highway 17 and called police, Reynolds said. The woman was not injured.

Liberty County deputies deployed a tracking canine in the area, but the dog did not detect a scent trail.

The woman did not see the suspect’s gun though she said it looked like he had one in his right coat pocket, according to the police report.

There is no relationship between the suspect and the woman, according to RHPD Cpl. Susan Willis.

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