Three people have been taken into custody and an investigation is underway after a 19-year-old woman escaped her armed captors at a Wetaskiwin, Alta. car wash on Wednesday after she says they kidnapped her.
“Wetaskiwin RCMP responded to an injured female at the Wetaskiwin Car and Truck Wash,” the RCMP said in a news release. “It was reported the female was hiding inside of a maintenance room alleging she had been kidnapped and attacked by someone with a firearm.”
“[An] employee called us after he located her inside the maintenance closet,” Const. Christine Hepburn told Global News on Thursday.
Police said the teen had been held in the trunk of a car before she managed to get away. The vehicle, a Ford Fusion, then left the scene in an unknown direction and Mounties were unable to track it down.
On Thursday, the car was spotted by police in Edmonton at a home in the area of 116 Street and 130 Avenue. Three people were taken into custody but police did not say if they were suspects. Police did not provide the genders or ages of the people taken into custody.
On Friday, Edmonton police said charges of theft of a motor vehicle and driving while disqualified had been laid against 24-year-old Evan Chase Rain.
A Global News crew spoke to a man at the car wash on Thursday. He would not provide his name but identified himself as the son of the business owner. He said the teen was discovered at about 11:30 a.m. and they did not know how long she had been in the maintenance room. He said she was scared.
When they found her, the man said the victim still had zip ties on her arm. He said she also had burn marks on her wrists from trying to get out of the zip ties and that she had bruises on her face. He said the car wash provided police with surveillance video they had.
“The RCMP do not feel this was a random incident and the individuals involved were known to each other.” the RCMP said. “There is no indication of any ongoing public safety concern.”
Police said the victim was taken to hospital but has since been released. They did not disclose the nature of her injuries.
Wetaskiwin is located about 80 kilometres south of Edmonton.
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