UPDATE: 3:30 PM EST
Police believe they have found a lead in the abduction of a Philadelphia woman. Authorities announced Tuesday that someone used her bank card this morning in Maryland.
A male used Carlesha Freeland-Gaither’s ATM card at 6:01 a.m. at a bank in Aberdeen, Md., about a 75-mile drive southwest from the Philadelphia street where she was forced into a car on Sunday night, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Dennis Wilson told reporters.
Wilson said the male is similar to the man in the surveillance tape who abducted the 22-year-old woman. Police are not sure if cash was withdrawn from the ATM.
We’ll keep you updated with the latest.
SOURCE: CNN
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Police are searching for a 22-year-old woman whose abduction was recently caught on tape in Philadelphia.
Carlesha Freeland-Gaither, who was last seen on Sunday, was approached by a man and tried to escape before being pulled into a car.
According to CBS News:
Surveillance video released Monday by Philadelphia police shows a man driving down a street, parking his car and walking a short distance out of the camera’s view, back towards the direction from which he came. He’s then seen apparently chasing a woman across the street before grabbing her and forcing her down the block and into the car.
An eyewitness recalls the scene of the abduction:
“It was sickening and that’s the only thing you can say. It looks like that he even knew that she was coming around that corner because he parked his car and then went back for her,” aunt Latesha Tucker-Felder said.
“When they got in the back of the car, you heard like a tap tap pap pap, whatever it was, it was like two of them and then the back window came out,” an eyewitness said.
The eyewitness had been on the opposite side of the street when he heard the woman scream.
“‘Help me, help me,’ and I turned around and I just started running up,” he said. “I called the cops as I’m like yo screaming stop, stop, stop. He’s dragging her to the car.”
According to the eyewitness, the abductor was carrying a large knife. Investigators say as the woman was forced into the car, her glasses and cell phone dropped onto the road. As the car drove away, Gaither kicked out at least one of the car’s rear windows. The car was last seen traveling west on Coulter Street towards Knox Street.
“Please just send her back home,” Freeland-Gaither’s father told the station. “Just let my daughter go. Whatever you want, whatever you’re asking for, I’ll give it to you.”
A $15,000 reward is being offered in the search for Carlesha Freeland-Gaither. The Fraternal Order of Police offered an additional $5,000 Tuesday saying if an arrest is made today, they will pay up immediately. Mayor Michael Nutter has approved a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in this case.
Freeland-Gaither is described as a black female, 5’3″ tall, 125 pounds with brown eyes. Police say she has braided hair and a tattoo on her lower back, and was last seen wearing a light blue jean jacket, a gray and white sweater, and carrying a black backpack.
Anyone with information, please call the Philadelphia Police. Tipsters in Philadelphia should call 911, and those outside of the city should call 215-686-TIPS.
SOURCE: CBS Philadelphia Local News, CBS NEWS | VIDEO CREDIT: YouTube
