Raleigh Police Search for Violent Kidnapper

Investigators believe the suspect abducted the woman at Fuller Elementary School on Calloway Drive around 5:30 p.m. They say she was taken to a wooded area off of Highway 55 in Morrisville and attacked. Passers-by rescued her after the attacker left.

At 7:38 p.m., the suspect was caught on surveillance camera in the Fashion Avenue clothing store on New Bern Avenue. He was wearing a blue and white shirt.

"He looked like he was nervous when he came in the store," said store manager Surinderpal Shinda, who was working when the suspect was in the store. "The girl that was working here asked him if he needed any help, and he said 'No.'"

At 7:42 p.m., the suspect left the store wearing a new yellow shirt. "He actually put that shirt on in the store and removed the shirt that he was wearing during the attack," says Raleigh Police Capt. Mike Longmire.

Investigators believe the suspect drove away in the victim's car -- a silver Toyota Avalon. The car was discovered around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday on Western Boulevard near N.C. State. Police say the suspect damaged it sometime after the attack when he hit a curb and a tree.

Police consider the man dangerous, in part because the attack was so bold. When they catch him, as they believe they will, they plan to charge him with assault, kidnapping and attempted murder.

"The victim in this case is lucky to be alive, and I think it will come as a great surprise to the suspect that she is actually alive because it's clear that his intention was to leave her for dead in that wooded area," Longmire says.

Police have been following up dozens of leads since Monday night.

"From conversation that he had with the victim, and from his obvious knowledge of this area, [we know] he's from around here, someone knows him," Longmire says.

"The best information usually comes from concerned citizens or people that know a suspect and call in with information," says Lt. D.R. Lane with the Raleigh Police Department. "A police department is only as good as the information that it receives from its citizens."

Police would also like to talk with the two men who helped rescue the victim.

"They are just good Samaritans. They are citizens that stopped and gave her some assistance," Lane said. "It is very important for us that we interview these two gentleman."

Wake County school administrators say that the crime was a random act of violence.

"This was a crime that could have taken place anywhere," says Stella Shelton, director of school communications. "The bottom line is that I don't know what the school system, or any school system can do to prevent this type of crime."

Wake County administrators have met with the principals of various schools in the area to talk about safety. They say their hearts go out to the victim and her family.

"This was a very brutal crime, and she's doing as well as can be expected, and probably a lot better than most of us would be," Shelton said.

Anyone with information should call Crimestoppers at 226-CRIME. A substantial reward is being offered for the suspect's arrest.