Gilroy
– Police have issued an Amber Alert in hopes of finding a
16-year-old girl who may have been kidnapped Sunday from the Gilroy
bus station. The incident may be connected to another possible
attempted kidnapping in Gilroy Saturday, police said.
Gilroy – Police have issued an Amber Alert in hopes of finding a 16-year-old girl who may have been kidnapped Sunday from the Gilroy bus station. The incident may be connected to another possible attempted kidnapping in Gilroy Saturday, police said.
On Sunday, Gilroy police were dispatched to a suspicious circumstances call involving 16-year-old Ebony Carter, who was on leave from a group home in San Mateo County. A white van, similar to a van involved in an incident Saturday, had been following Carter, but police said no crime had occurred. Police said they believe the van on Sunday was driven by a man named Bennyama.
Carter arrived in Gilroy from the group home on a bus Friday evening and spent the weekend with “close family members” who live in Gilroy, police said, but the family members she was visiting were not her parents. Police did not give specific information about Carter’s parents.
About 2pm Sunday, Carter’s family took her to the Greyhound bus station on Monterey Street, and police said that to the family’s knowledge, Carter got on the bus.
Later on Sunday, family members received a call from the San Mateo Sheriff’s Office notifying them that Carter had not returned to the group home. Gilroy police and the San Mateo Sheriff’s office initiated a missing persons case.
Just after 10am Tuesday, police said Carter called the group home from her cell phone, saying she was unable to return home and was being held against her will. Gilroy police called Carter’s cell phone throughout the day and were able to make brief contact once. During the two-minute phone call, police said, Carter was upset and crying and again said she was unable to return home. Carter hung up first.
Police said they think Bennyama wanted “some sort of relationship” with Carter, but the teen did not want to be involved. Carter’s family members recognized Bennyama but don’t know why he was in the area. Carter’s family supplied police with Bennyama’s name, but police know very little about him including his full name and whether he has a criminal background.
On Saturday, Gilroy police were dispatched to a possible attempted kidnapping. The victim, a female, was walking to her parked car at 797 First St. when she noticed a white van pull up behind her. A black male got out of the van and grabbed the woman, but she was able to escape.
The description of the van, the suspect and the victim in both Saturday and Sunday’s incidents is similar, police said, but it is unknown if the incidents are related.
Bennyama is described as a 20-year-old, 6-foot black male, weighing 200 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Police described Carter as 5-foot, 9-inches and 300 pounds with shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes. Her description matches the description of the victim on Sunday, but police could not confirm if that victim was Carter.
Police described the van as an older model with white panels and tinted windows. Police are unable to locate the van and have issued an Amber Alert in the Bay Area.
Police did not give specific information about the group home Carter attended. Police said members of the group home said Carter was doing very well, which is why she was given a weekend pass to visit family.
Police said as far as they know, Carter has no prior incidences of running away and was in a healthy mental state.
Anyone with information about the possible kidnapping may call Detective Dan Zen at 846-0350.
