Maryland

Suspect in Va., Pa., Abductions Indicted in Philadelphia

The man accused of violently abducting a Philadelphia woman has been indicted for one count of kidnapping.

Delvin Barnes, 37, of Charles City County, Virginia, is accused of kidnapping 22-year-old Carlesha Freeland-Gaither on Nov. 2 near a Philadelphia bus stop. He's also accused in the abduction of a Virginia teenager just weeks earlier.

If convicted in the Philadelphia case, Barnes faces a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment.

He has been in custody since his arrest Nov. 5, when he was found with Freeland-Gaither in his car in Jessup, Maryland.

Freeland-Gaither screamed hysterically for help during Barnes' arrest, telling the agents she was the woman who had been abducted in Philadelphia, ATF agent Tim Jones said.

"Once she had time to process what had happened you could tell she was emotionally distraught," he said.

Federal investigators had used a GPS device placed in Barnes' car by a used car dealer to help find the vehicle and rescue Freeland-Gaither.

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Federal prosecutors will try Barnes in the that case before he is turned over to authorities in Virginia, where he is charged with attempted murder in the abduction of a 16-year-old girl in Charles County, Virginia, in early October.

Barnes allegedly hit the girl in the head with a shovel, stuffed her in a trunk and took her to a mobile home, where he doused her in bleach and gasoline before she escaped. Police say she broke free as he was digging her grave.

Barnes was released from prison a year ago after serving eight years for choking his estranged wife and assaulting her parents in Philadelphia.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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