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Kent County Woman Kidnapped At CMU But Escapes; Abductor Killed

Posted at 12:20 PM, Jan 17, 2013
and last updated 2013-01-17 12:35:56-05

MT. PLEASANT, Mich. — A woman was kidnapped at gunpoint Wednesday night outside the Central Michigan University Student Activity Center, but she escaped and the abductor was shot to death when he rammed police cars, according to the Isabella County Sheriff.

The suspect Eric Lee Ramsey, 30, of  Mt. Pleasant. FOX 17 has learned the the woman is a student from Kent County. She is now with family.

The woman, whose identity was not released, was taken around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and forced into her own SUV. The pair left the campus and went to a home where the abductor bound and sexually assaulted the woman. He then took her to a barn where he got some gas cans.

After getting in the victim’s car and driving, the abductor told the woman he was going to kill her. At that point, she jumped from the moving car and ran to a house for help. The people in the house let her in and locked the door, and the woman called 911. The suspect followed her, used gasoline to set the house on fire, and fled. One of the homeowners was able to put out the fire.

A description of the vehicle the suspect was driving was sent out to law enforcement agencies, and he was spotted in Otsego and Crawford counties, and several hours later the suspect rammed a state trooper’s unit. He then stole a small sanitation truck and hit a Crawford County deputy’s cruiser head on. The deputy got out of his unit, ran up to the suspect and fired. The suspect was killed.

One trooper was hurt in the series of incidents. There was no word on how badly.

In a news conference, police called the victim a hero. She may have suffered a broken arm when she jumped from the car.