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Metropolis Reality Forums Ť Police: Student says she was abducted at knifepoin ť

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   Police: Student says she was abducted at knifepoin

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Topic: Police: Student says she was abducted at knifepoin (Read 292 times)

Rhune
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Police: Student says she was abducted at knifepoin
« on: Apr 1^st, 2004, 12:26pm »

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Police: Student says she was abducted at knifepoint
No suspect seen in area where woman was found
Thursday, April 1, 2004 Posted: 4:52 AM EST (0952 GMT)

(CNN) -- A University of Wisconsin student -- found alive Wednesday four days after she disappeared -- told police she was abducted at knifepoint by a stranger. By late in the day, no suspect was in custody and police continued to investigate.

"We have searched the area concerned extensively, and the suspect was not found," said Shannon Blackamore, a spokesman for the Madison Police Department.

Asked if authorities were still searching for the alleged abductor, Blackamore would only say, "We are actively investigating this case."

Police suspended their search overnight, but it was expected to resume Thursday morning.

"We are still containing an area we're designating as a crime scene," said police Sgt. Steve Beavers.

"We've covered the area well enough to know a suspect is not there. There may be items of evidentiary value so we're keeping officers posted to secure the area."

Audrey Seiler, a 20-year-old honor student at the state's flagship university, disappeared early Saturday, leaving her apartment door open and leaving behind her coat and purse. Her image was caught on a surveillance tape at her apartment building as she left.

She was found Wednesday in a marshy area of Madison about two miles from campus shortly after someone spotted her and called police, authorities said. Seiler was treated at a hospital and released about five hours later.

Blackamore said Seiler told police she was taken at knifepoint and held in captivity but not harmed. She said she did not know her abductor.

"Preliminary information indicates that a gun was implied but not seen," Blackamore told reporters. "Audrey reports that she was not free to leave and was not injured."

Seiler described the alleged abductor as a white male in his late 20s or early 30s, about 6 feet tall, and last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, black hat and jeans.

The student's parents expressed relief that the harrowing ordeal had come to an end.

"Audrey was overjoyed to return back to us, just relieved, glad to be warm, to see her friends and family, (and) a bit surprised at the big hullabaloo," Keith Seiler told reporters after being reunited with his daughter. "Other than that, she's just content right now."

Her mother, Stephanie Seiler, said: "Right now we're just focusing on being together and holding each other."

Dr. Philip Shultz of St. Mary's hospital said Seiler was doing "remarkably" well considering everything.

"She's really gotten through her ordeal remarkably well physically," he said. "She has lots of muscle aches from being confined during this period of time and she's relatively dehydrated."

Shortly after she was found, authorities quickly sealed off the area and began combing streets, parking lots and nearby woods with their guns drawn, looking for the suspect.

Police in a helicopter used a thermal imaging device to try to spot the man, and SWAT team members utilized an armored vehicle. At least one canine team tried to find a trail on the ground.

Hundreds of volunteers, including many from Seiler's hometown of Rockford, Minnesota, took part in searches earlier in the week.

Her disappearance had puzzled investigators because there was no sign of foul play.

In addition, last month Seiler told police she was attacked from behind and knocked unconscious while walking alone outside after midnight. She said she woke up behind a nearby building but wasn't robbed or otherwise hurt, police said.

No one was arrested in that incident.

University Provost Peter Spear said the disappearance was unusual for Madison, a quiet college town that had its lowest crime rate in 30 years last year.

"This is quite unique for us," Spear said. "In fact, our crime rate here is well below average for universities of our size."

Jane Thue, the mother of Seiler's roommate, said everyone was relieved with Wednesday's outcome.

"They came in and said they'd found her first, and then they said she's alive, and everyone's cheering, jumping up and down," Thue said. "It is a miracle, it's an absolute miracle, we never gave up faith."

Last November, University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin, 22, disappeared after leaving her job at a Grand Forks shopping mall. She is believed to be dead, although no remains have been found.

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 50, who was released from prison six months earlier after serving 23 years for the rapes of two women and attempted rape of another woman, was charged with her kidnapping.

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avsfanbuck
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Re: Police: Student says she was abducted at knife
« Reply #1 on: Apr 1^st, 2004, 1:18pm »

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This is so wierd, yesterday on fox news they told everyone that she refused to go anywhere by her self. They had a security camera show though that she was pacing as if she knew somebody was going to come. there is something fishy about this!

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Rhune
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Re: Police: Student says she was abducted at knife
« Reply #2 on: Apr 1^st, 2004, 1:57pm »

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Yeah the whole thing seems kinda odd...

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MzWings
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Re: Police: Student says she was abducted at knife
« Reply #3 on: Apr 1^st, 2004, 5:48pm »

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on Apr 1^st, 2004, 1:57pm, Rhune wrote:

Yeah the whole thing seems kinda odd...

It sure does. How many times have we seen that security tape played now? It showed her go to the door and turn and leave. We could see her reflection a bit and she'd go back to the door - peering outside as if she was waiting for someone. Suddenly, she flung open the door and left.

I wonder if anyone has checked her computer? Could she have met someone online and was off to meet them?

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Rhune
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Re: Police: Student says she was abducted at knife
« Reply #4 on: Apr 1^st, 2004, 6:26pm »

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Wisconsin police continue
hunt for students abductor

Autrhorities in Madison search marsh,
circulate composite sketch of suspect

Updated: 6:23 p.m. ET April 01, 2004

MADISON, Wis. - Police in Madison, Wis., on Thursday reinforced their assertion that Audrey Seiler, the Wisconsin college student found safe four days after going missing, was abducted.

"Currently the Madison Police Department is investigating the reported sequence of events from Audrey and other witness statements," said Assistant Police Chief Noble Wray, in an afternoon press conference. "We are continuing forward with this investigation."

"Like in any other investigation, there may be inconsistencies, but we are continuing forwrad with this investigation," Wray said, perhaps in a nod to growing suspicions that Seiler's absence was something other than what it appeared.

Madison police continued their hunt for clues, including the search of a nearby marsh.

More interviews planned
Wray said earlier Thursday, on NBCs Today show, that Seiler told officers that the man who abducted her four days earlier at knifepoint was still in the immediate area." That triggered an extensive search of the area, but no one was found, he said.

He said detectives planned to conduct more extensive interviews with Seiler on Thursday aimed at learning more about what occurred in the four days between her disappearance and her recovery. They also were returning to the marsh to search for clues that could lead them to the abductor.

Based on initial interviews with Seiler, police described the suspect as a white man in his late 20s or early 30s, 5 feet, 11 inches to 6 feet tall, who was last seen wearing a sweatshirt, jeans and a black cap. The suspect was thought to be armed with a gun and a knife, Wray said at a news conference Wednesday.

Police: Victim did not know her abductor
Police Officer Shannon Blackamore also said that Seiler did not know the abductor. He said there also was an indication or threat of a gun, though Seiler never saw the weapon. Audrey reports she was not free to leave and was not injured, Blackamore said.

Seilers roommate, Heather, who appeared on Today on condition that her last name not be used, said that she had spoken with the woman whose mysterious disappearance early Saturday triggered a widespread search of open areas near her off-campus apartment.

She was overjoyed just to be with us, she said.

Asked whether Seiler had told her anything about her apparent kidnapping, Heather replied, The police said that I cant talk about that.

Seiler's parents met with reporters Wednesday evening and said that their daughter was upbeat despite her ordeal.

"Audrey is doing well," said her father Keith Seiler who appeared at a press conference with his wife, Stephanie. "She's happy to be back. She's thrilled to be home again with her family and friends."

Student in good condition
Dr. Philip Shultz of St. Mary's Emergency Services in Madison said Selier was in good condition. He said she was "pretty cold" when she came in, though not hypothermic. "She has a lot of muscle aches from being confined during this time," he said, adding that she had been somewhat dehydrated.

Shultz said she was "already looking a lot better," and was eager to be discharged from the hospital.

Police found Seiler less than two miles from where she disappeared over the weekend. She was found in a marshy area as a result from a call from a citizen who "thought it was unusual that a person was there," police spokesman Pat Malloy told MSNBC-TV.

Officers quickly established a perimeter and began hunting for the man, walking through a parking lot of the Alliant Energy Center complex and using a megaphone at one point to order a possible kidnap suspect to come out of some nearby trees.

Officers with thermal-imaging camera equipment capable of detecting the heat from a human body were sent aloft in a news helicopter.

Fear gives way to joy
Earlier in the day, Seiler's parents begged her not to give up, four days after a surveillance tape showed her leaving her apartment building early Saturday without belongings and leaving her door open.

Everybody wants you back, Audrey, her mother, Stephanie Seiler, said during a press conference. Were not stopping, Audrey, and you cant stop either.

Volunteers from Seilers hometown of Rockford, Minn., who had slogged through marshes around campus Tuesday, expressed joy that she had been found safe.

"Right now it's just an unbelievable feeling in Rockford," said Roman Pierskalla, principal of the Rockford high school. "... The prayers of everyone in the Rockford community have been answered."

Madison Police Capt. Luis Yudice said earlier Wednesday that investigators were trying to determine whether Seilers disappearance was related to a Feb. 1 attack that left her unconscious when she was struck from behind by an unknown assailant.

Investigators had said they were reviewing files of sex offenders and others with a criminal history living in the area in an effort to uncover possible leads, he said.

Earlier attack believed random
Her uncle, Scott Charlesworth-Seiler, said his niece had no idea who may have wanted to harm her and believed the attack was random.

Audrey was worried after having been attacked and, as a result, was more careful to walk with friends and make sure she was safe, he said.

Volunteers, many from Seilers hometown, searched the University of Wisconsin Arboretum, a large wooded area south of campus. Police also used search-and-rescue dogs, planes and boats in the search.

Last November, University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin was kidnapped from a mall parking lot in Grand Forks, N.D. A Minnesota man has been charged with abducting her. She is feared dead, but no body has been found.

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Rhune
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Re: Police: Student says she was abducted at knife
« Reply #5 on: Apr 2^nd, 2004, 1:27pm »

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Police: Student changes abduction story
Friday, April 2, 2004 Posted: 12:25 PM EST (1725 GMT)

MADISON, Wisconsin (CNN) -- The University of Wisconsin honor student who said she was abducted at knifepoint from outside her apartment has changed her account of the incident, Assistant Police Chief Noble Wray said at a Friday news conference.

Wray said police asked Audrey Seiler about apparent inconsistencies among the physical evidence, her statements to police and those of other witnesses. Seiler then said the abduction had taken place in a different location, according to Wray.

The 20-year-old student was found Wednesday. She was last seen leaving her apartment at 2:30 a.m. Saturday.

Seiler told police she was abducted at knifepoint by a white male in his late 20s or early 30s, about 6 feet tall, and last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, black hat and jeans.

A security camera recorded Seiler leaving her apartment early Saturday. She left her apartment door open, with her coat and purse inside, police said.

Madison police on Thursday had released a composite sketch of a suspect described by Seiler as the man who abducted her.

"The Madison Police Department is investigating the reported sequence of events from Audrey and other witness statements," Wray said at a brief news conference Thursday.

"Like in any other major investigation, there may be inconsistencies. But we are continuing forward with this investigation," he said.

Earlier, police spokesman Larry Kamholz said Seiler's disappearance puzzled investigators because there was no sign of foul play, but he said police had no reason to doubt her account.

In February, Seiler told police she was attacked from behind and knocked unconscious while walking alone outside after midnight. She said she woke up behind a nearby building but wasn't robbed or otherwise hurt, police said. No one was arrested.

Shortly after Seiler was found Wednesday, authorities sealed off the area and began searching streets, parking lots and nearby woods in an unsuccessful attempt to locate a suspect.

Hundreds of volunteers, including many from Seiler's hometown of Rockford, Minnesota, helped search this week.

Seiler was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon, and her parents expressed relief that the ordeal was over.

"Right now, we're just focusing on being together and holding each other," Stephanie Seiler said Wednesday.

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Rhune
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Re: Police: Student says she was abducted at knife
« Reply #6 on: Apr 2^nd, 2004, 1:28pm »

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-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, April 02, 2004 1:01 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: CNN Breaking News

-- Citing inconsistencies in her account, police say they believe there is no suspect at large in reported kidnapping of Wisconsin college student.
Watch CNN or log on to http://CNN.com for the latest news.

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