Thread: Teen girls abducted from L.A. 'lovers lane'

August 1, 2002 Posted: 12:19 PM EDT (1619 GMT)

Police say Jaqueline Marris, 17, left, and Tamera Brooks, 16, were abducted at gunpoint early Thursday morning.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/08/01/tee...ion/index.html

LANCASTER, California (CNN) -- Police issued a statewide alert early Thursday for man in a white Ford Bronco who allegedly kidnapped a pair of teenage girls at gunpoint from a popular "lovers lane" in Los Angeles County.

The suspect, described as 30 to 40 years old with a medium build and dark complexion, left the scene with Tamera Brooks, 16, and Jaqueline Marris, 17, who had been in separate vehicles with male friends at a Quartz Hill parking area shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday, police said.

The vehicle, a white, 1980 Ford Bronco with a gray camper shell, oversized tires and a raised suspension designed for off-road use, belonged to Brooks' companion, Joshua Brown, according to Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Deputy Brian Lendman.

Authorities said the Bronco was the only vehicle in the parking lot when the suspect arrived at the Quartz Hill water tower -- popular with teens because of its seclusion and sweeping views of the valley below -- in a stolen Saturn. That car was reported stolen in a car-jacking in Las Vegas, but authorities said they did not have details of the car-jacking.


The two teenagers are said by police to have been kidnapped in this Ford Bronco. Brown, who said he turned 18 Thursday, said that moments after he heard a car pull into the parking lot, the suspect was at his window with a semiautomatic handgun. "He told me to give him all my money," he said. "I thought he was going to kill us." The suspect left the girl in the truck, he said, warning her to keep her head down, tied Brown to a pole and blindfolded him. The young man said the suspect "pointed (the gun) to the back of my head."

"He told me he was going to kill me, but he didn't want to," he said. "He actually just wanted to tie me up. He wanted the truck. ... It sounded like he was trying to decide if he was going to kill me or not." As the suspect was preparing to leave, Brown said, he heard another car pull into the parking lot, apparently Marris and her companion. The companion, who identified himself as Frank, said the suspect first tried to tape the two teenagers together in the car, but when that didn't work, he taped Frank to his car seat and steering wheel and left with both girls in the Bronco.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Capt. Tom Pigott said one of the boys worked himself free and "ran down the hill to a pay phone."
Pigott also said that the suspect apparently doused the Saturn in gasoline or some other flammable liquid, apparently intending to set fire to it, "but for some reason elected not to do that."

August 1, 2002 Posted: 4:37 PM EDT (2037 GMT)

Police say Jaqueline Marris, 17, left, and Tamera Brooks, 16, were abducted at gunpoint early Thursday morning.


LANCASTER, California (CNN) -- Two teenage girls were found alive and the man suspected of kidnapping them Thursday morning was shot and killed by police in Kern County, California, hours after the abduction, officials said.

Police issued a statewide alert earlier in the day for a man in a white Ford Bronco who kidnapped a pair of teenage girls at gunpoint from a popular lovers lane in Los Angeles County, California.


The suspect, described as 30 to 40 years old with a medium build and dark complexion, left the scene with Tamera Brooks, 16, and Jaqueline Marris, 17, who had been in separate vehicles with male friends at a Quartz Hill parking area shortly before 2 a.m. PDT Thursday, near Lancaster, police said.

As law enforcement officials spread the search over the entire Southwestern United States, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonivich announced a $10,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the suspect.

The vehicle, a white, 1980 Ford Bronco with a gray camper shell, oversized tires and a raised suspension designed for off-road use, belonged to Brooks' friend, Joshua Brown, according to Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Deputy Brian Lendman.

Suspect:
-30 to 40 years old
-Medium build
-Dark complexion

-1980 Ford Bronco
-White, with a gray camper shell
-Oversized tires
-Raised suspension
-Calif. license plate 1AIZ962
-Sticker on rear window: D & D Muffler.

NO OTHER NEW INFORMATION AVAILABLE FROM CNN AT THIS TIME - BUT AT LEAST THE GIRLS ARE OKAY...