ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / May 17, 2000

LAPLACE – St. John Parish sheriff’s deputies are looking for a man whoabducted a young woman in New Orleans, brought her to LaPlace and raped her.

According to reports, the woman was waiting for a bus in New Orleans on May 10 when a man in a car offered her a ride to Harvey, where the woman was going. She accepted the ride and got in the car.The man pulled out a semi-automatic pistol and told her to be quiet then drove to LaPlace, where he stopped the car, punched her and raped her.

Afterward, he threw her out of the car and left her in the road.

The woman managed to flag down another car and get a ride to Jefferson Parish, where she contacted her parents. The victim’s parents thencontacted the New Orleans Police Department, who took her to Charity Hospital for an examination.

The woman said she is certain the rapist brought her to LaPlace, and the St.

John Sheriff’s Office and the NOPD are cooperating in a joint investigation.

Capt. Mike Tregre of the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office said, “We believethat this man is very familiar with the St. John Parish area. He either liveshere or has relatives in the parish.”The victim has described her assailant to a sketch artist, and the picture is being distributed throughout the area.

Police are looking for a clean-cut black male, in his mid-20s, between 5-foot- 7 and 5-9 and weighing 170 pounds.

Det. Sgt. Larry LeBlanc, who is in charge of the case, said the suspect wasprobably driving a maroon, late-model, mid-size car.

Anyone with information on this kidnapping and rape is asked to contact Det. Sgt. LeBlanc at 652-6338 or 652-2773.

Return To News Stories