Mother Kidnapped, Left for Ransom
HILL COUNTY (November 17, 2010)—One man was in custody Wednesday in Hill County and local and federal authorities were looking for two others after a woman who was kidnapped Tuesday from her home in Fort Worth managed to free herself and escape from her abductors at a campsite where she was being held.
The woman, who’s in her 30s, but whose name and exact age weren’t released Wednesday, was abducted at around noon Tuesday from her home in Fort Worth by three Hispanic men, authorities said.
The kidnappers left the woman’s 4-year-old child alone in the house.
The woman’s husband later came home, found the child, realized his wife was missing and called police.
The kidnappers, meanwhile, drove the woman to a campsite south of Whitney on FM 933 where they bound her to a chair and then called her family, demanding money for her release.
She was able to escape, however, and ran across the road to a residence where she called 911.
Hill County deputies responded and arrested one man in a camping area with tents and trailers.
Juan Manuel Reyes-De Leon, 36, remained in the Hill County Jail Wednesday.
Two other men escaped.
The victim was bruised and scratched, but was otherwise OK, authorities said.
The Hill County Sheriff’s Office contacted both Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Administration because of the possibility the kidnapping is related either to drug or human trafficking.
Fort Worth police are investigating the kidnapping.
