Germantown abduction victim reunited with family; suspect behind bars
GERMANTOWN, Pa. -- A woman forcibly taken from a quiet Germantown street Sunday night has been reunited with her family after authorities rescued her in Maryland and took her suspected kidnapper into custody.
22-year-old Carlesha Freeland-Gaither was released from a hospital in Columbia, Maryland overnight and is now recovering with her family in Philadelphia.
Police said Freeland-Gaither suffered some physical injuries and psychological trauma, but is generally doing okay.
"Everybody came through," the victim's cousin, Cinquetta Barfield, said. "The media, the public -- they called in with crazy tips. Everybody just came through, and we all worked as a team."
"For all of us -- family, all of us -- I mean, you hope, you hope, you hope. But you don't really know until you actually are able to get her and make sure that she's okay," said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey.
Her suspected abductor, 37-year-old Delvin Barnes, was previously wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant out of Charles City County, Virginia sheriff's office for attempted capital murder, assault, malicious injury with acid, explosive, or fire.
That's in connection with the case of a 16-year-old girl he allegedly kidnapped there.
On Thursday, he waived his right to an extradition hearing. Virginia now has five days to retrieve him from Maryland.
Authorities say he will then be charged federally with the crimes committed in Philadelphia, including Freeland-Gaither's abduction.
"Bottom line is, it doesn't matter, he's not getting out of custody whichever direction he goes, in Philly or Virginia. His last moment of freedom was last night," Ramsey said Thursday.
Details on how authorities tracked Barnes from Philadelphia to Maryland continue to emerge.
The dramatic resolution to the 3-day-long ordeal was announced just after 7:00 p.m. Wednesday.
Ramsey and FBI Special Agent Ed Hanko were surrounded by a host of law enforcement officials and the victim's family during the press conference.
"Tonight, the FBI and Philadelphia Police Department have great news -- that Carlesha Freeland has been rescued," said Hanko. "Her abductor has been arrested in Maryland."
Early Wednesday night, investigators said, a task force from the Baltimore FBI office consisting of U.S. Marshals, ATF agents, and FBI agents, located a car that matched the description of the vehicle used in Freeland-Gaither's abduction.
FBI Agent Timothy Jones said a tip led them to the car, which was located in the parking lot of a shopping center just off I-95 in Jessup, Maryland.
Authorities say a car dealer who sold Barnes the car recognized him. The dealer put a GPS tracking device on the car, fearing Barnes would default on his loan.
Plastic was covering the window that police believe Freeland-Gaither kicked out during her abduction. Agents were able to get a clear view of a man and woman sitting inside the car.
Agents say both were sitting on the passenger side at first, but then Barnes moved into the driver's seat.
"For fear of him driving away before we could detain him and determine that was actually our abduction victim, the agents, at that point, moved in," said Jones.
Jones says the agents surrounded the vehicle and were able to subdue and arrest Barnes without incident.
"It was fantastic because I was actually on the phone with the detective from the Philadelphia Police Department, and it was one of those moments where we were very happy that luck was in our favor," said Jones.
Freeland-Gaither was rushed to nearby Howard County General Hospital to be evaluated.
At Wednesday night's news conference, the victim's mother, Keisha Gaither, thanked the Philadelphia police, the FBI, the public, and her family and friends for finding her daughter.
"Thank you so much for having us in your prayers. Thank you for keeping me up. Thanking for being there for us. I'm taking my baby home. Thank you. Thank you so much." Keisha Gaither said.
Ramsey singled out Philadelphia Police Detective James Sloan, who made a promise to Keisha Gaither.
"He said in my kitchen in front of me, 'I'm bringing your daughter home,'" Keisha Gaither said at the news conference, referring to Sloan. "And he brought my daughter home."
Gaither then gave the detective a hug.
"So this is very important," said Ramsey. "This has a happy ending. We all need to celebrate, but also understand that this young woman has gone through a lot of trauma over the last few days, psychological trauma, and we need to respect her privacy."
It was not immediately clear if Barnes is the same man described as a person of interest who is seen in various surveillance videos released by police.
The last of those videos was released Wednesday morning, hours before Barnes' arrest.
It shows a man walking into an ACME supermarket in the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia on November 2nd, the same day Freeland-Gaither was abducted.
The man in the video is seen wearing a dark colored knit cap, dark pants, multi-colored tennis shoes (possibly black and red) and possible chain for a wallet hanging from the right pants pocket.
The abduction took place around 9:40 p.m. Sunday.
Her family says Freeland-Gaither worked as a nurse and had spent the evening visiting with her godson before heading home.
They say she had just gotten of a bus and was just blocks from her home when she was abducted.
Surveillance video shows the first moments when Freeland-Gaither came in contact with the large man who took her.
The man is seen reaching his hand out to her on the 5400 block of Greene Street and Freeland-Gaither slowly backing away.
She tries to get around the man again, and that's when he lunges and grabs her. The two then disappear from view.
Surveillance video from another camera shows Freeland-Gaither being dragged down the 100 block of West Coulter Street then shoved into a 2000-2002 dark gray metallic 4-door Ford Taurus with Maryland tags.
VIDEO: See the video released by Philadelphia Police
Police say Freeland-Gaither kicked out both rear windows just before the car sped away. Police later found her glasses and cell phone lying on the road where the abduction occurred.
That car was just one of a handful of Maryland connections in this case.
Freeland-Gaither was raised in Maryland and returned to Philadelphia two years ago.
Police released surveillance images from a Maryland ATM where her ATM card was used.
The images were taken at an ATM at a PNC Bank just off Interstate 95 in Aberdeen at 6:01 a.m. Monday morning.
Another surveillance video shows the person of interest inside an Aberdeen, Maryland gas station mini-mart.
View Surveillance Video
The time stamp on the video reads 6:04 a.m. on November 3, 2014, which would be minutes after the ATM card was used at the bank.
The FBI also posted messages on billboards to help with the search.
A total of $47,000 in reward money was being offered in this case. Some of the money was being offered for both an arrest and conviction, some for an arrest only.
