Lancaster Woman Says She Was Raped After Fender-Bender

A Lancaster woman says a fender-bender along a busy highway turned into a kidnapping and rape.

She is recovering, but the man who did it is still on the run.

Lancaster police say they are very concerned about the incident, and it looks like a calculated crime, a predator looking for a victim.

10TV talked to the victim's father Tuesday afternoon.

10TV News did not name him or his daughter for safety reasons.

He says it was his birthday Monday, and his 36-year-old daughter was returning from the store with a birthday cake for him when the nightmare began.

"She's breaking down, crying,” he said outside the police station. “She blames herself."

His 36-year-old daughter returned to the police station Tuesday for another interview with investigators.

"We're just coping, my wife is really taking this hard," said the victim’s father

The ordeal started about 4 p.m. Monday.

The victim was driving southbound along North Memorial Drive, when she says she was rear-ended by a dark four-door sedan.

The victim says after she was hit, she stopped her car, got out and walked to the back to check the damage.

That's when she told police a man got out of the rear driver's side door of the other car and approached her.  

She said he then pulled out a knife and forced her back into her own car, struck her across the face several times and threatened to kill her if she did not do exactly what he said.

The victim told police she did not remember what happened next, but more than four hours later, she woke up near a walking path surrounded by heavy brush off of Goodwin Avenue about a mile away.  

She then knocked on a neighbor's door.

The neighbor called 911 and said she was hysterical as she tried to calm her on her front porch.

The woman told the neighbor she'd been raped.

"This can happen to anybody, people need to be aware,” the victim’s father said.  “She thought she was doing the right thing by pulling over."

“It makes it a lot more concerning,” said Lancaster Police Sgt. Steve Fealty.  “What this indicates to me is the person was looking for something like this."

Police say there had to be a lot of traffic on Memorial Drive when the initial fender bender happened.

Detectives are looking to see if there is any surveillance video from area businesses.

They also are urging anyone who saw anything to call Lancaster police at 740-687-6680 ext. 25.

Detectives say there was somebody driving the other car because it later disappeared from the scene.

The victim says her attacker has a thin build, is about 5feet, 11 inches tall and has a dirty blonde buzz cut.  She says he was wearing blue shorts.

Police are also searching for the woman's purse, cell phone and car, with Ohio License plate number 'CL71.'

Watch 10TV News and refresh 10TV.com for more information.