Cops seek public’s help in Cortland abduction

Staff report

CORTLAND

Photo

Cortland police are seeking information on a suspect in an abduction earlier this week. This is a sketch of the unidentified suspect.

Police are asking the public to be alert to any suspicious activity and report it to police after a 16-year-old girl was abducted from her apartment Monday.

The girl, who said she didn’t know her attacker, escaped at about 5:45 p.m.

The girl said a man 20 to 30 years old came to her apartment around 5:30 p.m. and abducted her at gunpoint, forcing her into his car and driving her through part of town.

The girl, who lives on Maplewood Drive, tried to escape at Natale Drive near Lakeview High School, about a mile away, but the suspect got out and put her back in the car, Cortland police said.

She then escaped successfully at Deer Creek Trail, about 1 mile away, police said.

The man was driving a small maroon or red four-door car with dark interior, the girl said. He was described as 5 feet 8 to 5 feet 10 and thin.

Officer David Morris of the Cortland police said investigators are following up “everything we have” but have not made an arrest.

“I think [people] need to be alert to their surroundings,” Morris said.

“I think they need to quickly report suspicious vehicles, people and incidents to the police. Something insignificant in their eyes may be very significant in our eyes,” he said.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation used details from the girl and drew a sketch of the suspect. Anyone with information about the crime or the suspect is asked to call Cortland police through the county dispatch center at 330-675-2730.