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Woman Allegedly Kidnapped, Driven To Ohio

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Dec 29, 2008 7:33 pm US/Eastern

Woman Allegedly Kidnapped, Driven To Ohio

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Pittsburgh Police say an 86-year-old woman from the Hill District was allegedly wrapped in duct tape and driven to Shaker Heights, Ohio.
 
She lives in 800 block of Clarissa Street in the Sugar Top neighborhood. According to everyone involved, the incident may have been an attempt to help the woman out.

Neighbors have identified the victim as Evelyn Poynter. The suspects are 72-year-old Laura Stewart, Poynter's sister, and 76-year-old Earl Cross, Stewart's boyfriend, as well as 48-year-old Darnell Randall, who went to a neighbor's home for help.

"So he rang my doorbell about 5:30 yesterday, asking me would I come over and help him carry the person to the car," the neighbor tells KDKA. "I thought it was somebody … in a wheelchair or something like that.

The man was stunned when he got to Mrs. Poynter's apartment.

"They had a woman wrapped up in a blanket. She was duct taped, her feet was duct taped and once I seen that, I told him, 'I don't want to have nothing to do with this,'" he said.

According to police, from that point on, the three suspects loaded the woman into back of an SUV, drove around for hours before finally stopping in Shaker Heights, Ohio, where Stewart and Cross live.

"They've been doing this all year trying to take her away, but she refused to go," Katie Evans, a neighbor, said.

Evans, a lifelong friend of the victim, says she spoke to Mrs. Poynter this morning and she's fine.

The motive, according to Evans, is Poynter's sister wanted to bring her to Ohio to take care of her.

"She wasn't going to go voluntarily, but I didn't know they were going to duct tape her," Evans said.

Shaker Heights Police were waiting for the three when they arrived at the home.

Randall remains at the Allegheny County Jail charged with kidnapping. Stewart and Cross are in police custody in Ohio awaiting extradition on kidnapping charges.

Poynter is back home and is fine.


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