Carlesha Freeland-Gaither, the 22-year-old woman who was abducted from the street in Philadelphia, was found alive in Maryland on Wednesday and the man responsible has been arrested for kidnapping.
“I’m taking my baby home. Thank you,” said Keisha Gaither, the woman’s elated mother. Her family erupted into applause as she spoke.
Officials said that Freeland-Gaither was rescued from the car of her abductor, 37-year-old Delvin Barnes, on the side of a road in Jessup. Maryland. She suffered some injuries and has been taken to a hospital in Columbia, Maryland for treatment. She’s listed in good condition and is expected to recover soon.
The young woman was grabbed at around 9:40 p.m. on Sunday in Germantown, Pennsylvania as she was walking home from visiting her godson. She was forced down the street and into a car. She fought her attacker and struggled to get away, even breaking out the window of the car. The entire ordeal was caught on surveillance tape.
Edward Hanko, special agent-in-charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia division, said agents acted on tips from the public to track down Barnes’ car. Detectives got a break in the case from a woman living in Harve De Grace, Maryland. A woman, who chose to remain unidentified, found a bag of trash with a receipt from an ACME supermarket in North Philadelphia, broken glass and a bag of Herr’s potato chips. The woman told NBC10 that she initially thought it was just trash until she heard about the story and called in to report it.
Detectives were able to use the receipt to find surveillance tapes of Barnes in the supermarket. Authorities tracked the car on Wednesday and an FBI task force moved in to take him into custody when he exited his car on the 7200 block of Waterloo Road in Jessup, said Hanko.
“We worked tirelessly, around the clock, investigated every lead that we had, and we really appreciate the public coming forward giving us a hand, giving us all the information that we were able to sit there and work on,” Philadelphia Police Northwest Detective Division Capt. James Smith said.
Barnes has a long history with the law, including an incident with his ex-wife and in-laws in November 2005 that ended with him being charged with rape, burglary, aggravated assault, making terroristic threats and reckless endangerment, according to court documents.
A Philadelphia police caravan brought around 15 members of Freeland-Gaither’s family to reunite with her. They plan to bring her back to Philadelphia overnight if she is allowed to be released from the hospital.
“Thank you so much for having us in your prayers, thank you for keeping me up. Thank you for being there for us,” Gaither said.