Abducted US woman escapes ‘year-long’ cross-country nightmare

A woman in the United States who had been abducted almost a year ago made a dramatic escape from her captor, the authorities said on Friday.

The man, 57-year-old James W. Parrillo Jr., has been charged with kidnapping.

Parrillo met the woman in the US state of New Mexico in 2022.

He travelled to New Jersey with her and assaulted her in a house where they rented a room, according to a statement from New Jersey Attorney-General Matthew J. Platkin.

Parrillo was arrested on Feb 7, soon after the woman is said to have escaped from the house.

She then fled to a petrol station in New Jersey.

The petrol station owner, Mr Bobby Madaan, told CNN that the woman came rushing into the shop, and he heard screaming and yelling from his office.

He said she ran into the shop and locked the door behind her.

A man was running behind the woman, Mr Madaan added, but when he realised that the shop was locked, the man turned and left.

Mr Madaan said the woman told him she had begun plotting her escape after a previous visit to the petrol station.

That is when she had noticed a dead bolt at the station’s shop door.

The woman’s plan was to run to the petrol station and lock herself in the shop when she had the opportunity, he said.

On Feb 7, Parrillo began beating and choking her during an argument inside the residence, which they shared with several other individuals.

He apparently stopped assaulting her when he realised that they were not alone in the house.

That was when the woman ran from the house wearing only a pair of shorts and a shirt in 5 deg C weather.

According to the statement by Mr Platkin, the woman had met Parrillo, whom she knew as “Brett Parker”, at a petrol station in New Mexico some time in February last year.

At his request, she agreed to give him a ride to the state of Arizona.

The woman said she was in a voluntary relationship with Parrillo for about a month when he physically assaulted her.

By this time, the two were in California. This was also the point at which she felt unable to leave the relationship.

During their time together, Parrillo allegedly took away her mobile phone, confiscated and used her debit cards, and isolated her from her family.

The pair is said to have arrived in New Jersey some time in December, Mr Platkin’s statement said.

Parrillo has been charged with first-degree kidnapping, second-degree strangulation and aggravated assault and third-degree criminal restraint, the statement added.

He has been detained pending trial.

“This is a deeply disturbing case in which the defendant allegedly held a woman against her will for nearly a year, while travelling with her throughout the country,” Mr Platkin said.

“We are reaching out to law enforcement across jurisdictions to identify other people who may have additional information on the defendant.”

During a hearing on Wednesday, it was revealed that Parrillo may have engaged in “similar predatory conduct” with people in other states, according to Mr Platkin’s statement.

This is based on information provided by the victim, along with information found on social media and other online sites.

“The allegations, if proven, demonstrate a level of predatory conduct that poses an extreme danger to anyone who crosses paths with this defendant,” Ms Pearl Minato, director of the Division of Criminal Justice in New Jersey, said.

Colonel Patrick J. Callahan, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, commended law enforcement forces for quickly arresting Parrillo.

But he added that the “strength and bravery of the female victim who successfully escaped her assailant is nothing short of heroic”.