Detectives are investigating a new clue in the violent abduction of a young woman from a Philadelphia street.
Carlesha Freeland-Gaither's ATM card was used in Aberdeen, Maryland, around 6 a.m. Tuesday, the woman's grandmother told NBC10. The woman previously lived and went to high school in the state. The grandmother said Philadelphia detectives showed them the picture of a man using an ATM, and the family did not recognize him. Aberdeen is about 70 miles south of Philadelphia.
Police have been searching for the 22-year-old victim since her nighttime kidnapping two days ago off sidewalk in the city's Germantown section.
Investigators and the woman's family plan to make a public plea for help during a 12:30 p.m. news conference on Tuesday. The briefing will come hours after city officials increased a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect to $15,000.
Freeland-Gaither was grabbed at the corner of W. Coulter and Greene Streets around 9:40 p.m. on Sunday, police said. The violent abduction was captured on surveillance video.
"Whoever you are, whatever you know please just help me find my daughter," Carl Freeland, her father, said Tuesday morning. "I just want my daughter back home. Whatever I have to give you. Just have my daughter back home with me and my family in a safe place."
The abductor, a heavyset man standing about 5-foot-10-inches tall, pulled the 22-year-old nursing aide down the 100 block of Coulter Street to his parked dark gray metallic Ford Taurus. Freeland-Gaither struggles to break free, but can't get away.
“We need to find this young lady, we need to find the person responsible and get him in custody and get her home safely,” said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey.
Witnesses tell NBC10 they watched the woman break out the rear windows of the suspect's vehicle in an attempt to escape. Police found her smartphone and glasses as well as a knife and glove at the scene.
Detectives consider the abduction random and are working with the FBI. The woman was coming home from a visit to her godson.
A SEPTA bus rolled past Freeland-Gaither shortly before the kidnapping. The woman's family tells NBC10 that the transit authority is reviewing its surveillance video as well for clues.
On Monday night, Mayor Michael Nutter approved a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the perpetrator. On Tuesday, Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5 added $5,000 to bring the reward total to $15,000.
Officials are asking for anyone with information to contact Philadelphia Police online or call the tip line at 215.686.TIPS.
Photo Credit: Family Photo/Philadelphia Police