(KRON) — A California San Jose State University student was found running down an Oregon highway Friday night after allegedly getting kidnapped at knifepoint from her apartment by a stranger, say police. Coos County sheriff’s deputies contacted police in the San Jose area and determined that the victim had been reported missing by family members after she did not show up for her own graduation ceremony.
Officers with the Bandon Police Department found the victim, 22, frightened, running down a roadway at around 10:18 p.m. near U.S. Highway 101 and Prosper Junction Rd in Bandon, Oregon.
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The unidentified woman told investigators that she’d been abducted roughly 10 hours earlier, carjacked and forced to drive north in her own vehicle until it ran out of gas, allowing her an opportunity to flee on foot and hide in tall grass nearby until nightfall.
Officers found the vehicle near an old mill at Ballard’s Bridge and Highway 101 and searched the area for the suspect, with assistance from a K-9 unit. They were unable to track him, however, and towed the vehicle for evidence.
The victim was transported to a hospital in Coos Bay for facial injuries suffered when the suspect struck her. The Coos County Women’s Safety and Resource Center provided an advocate for her and housed her until family members arrived to bring her home over the weekend.
The suspect is described as a mixed-race black and Hispanic man in his 30s. He did not have facial hair and was wearing a black hoodie, black baseball hat and black winter-style gloves, according to the victim.
The case remains under investigation by Coos County sheriff’s deputies and the San Jose Police Department. The FBI has also been notified, according to deputies.