Virginia authorities are investigating the alleged abduction of a woman outside of a Target Store. Witnesses say a male and two females pulled a female into a minivan, as she fought and screamed to get away.
UPDATE (2010/05/30 at 12:05pm): Girl safe with family. Jacksonville Department reports that the girl was found with her family in Fort Lauderdale, unharmed. Surveillance video shows the family’s stop (while traveling to Florida) at the TARGET in Stafford, Virginia, where family member were attempting to get the teen back into the family van to continue travel for the family’s move to Florida. Police say the girl didn’t want to move to Florida.
STAFFORD COUNTY, VA – A surveillance video at a Target store, 25 South Gateway Drive in Stafford County, shows a young woman was abducted in front of the Target store in Stafford County at approximately 11:30 a.m. Saturday morning. The store is near I -95 at Route 17, Warrenton Road, northwest of Fredericksburg.
Stafford County Sheriff’s deputies received a report from witnesses that a man drove up to the front of the store, with the door of a dark green Dodge Caravan van already open, directly in front of where the abducted woman was walking near the Target store entrance. While the man came out of the van, a woman, apparently already out of the van, came up behind the victim, and a third woman who was also in the van, pushed/pulled the young woman into the van. The victim attempted to collapse and resist as shown in the video.
The young woman was described as approximately 17 years old, 5′ 7″, 140 pounds, wearing a white, long sleeved shirt and dark pants. She and the alleged abductors were all described as African American.
The offending vehicle is described as a dark green Dodge Caravan, possibly a 1998 model, and has a license number of 984610, possibly Rhode Island tags. The vehicle had tinted rear cargo windows. Two small flags were seen hanging from the rear view mirror. It is believed that the van was occupied by five individuals in addition to the victim. The van was last seen driving onto Route 17 in Stafford County in an unknown direction.
The girl has been found safe in Florida. Family members were the ones who forced her into the van. Apparently, she did not want to move to Florida, so at a stop at Target, she refused to get back in the van.
Details at http://www.wtvr.com/wtvr-stafford-abduction,0,7011125.story