Gilroy
– Gilroy police Wednesday released the photograph of a man
sought in connection to the possible kidnapping of a 16-year-old
girl Sunday.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Gilroy police Wednesday released the photograph of a man sought in connection to the possible kidnapping of a 16-year-old girl Sunday.
The picture of the man known as “Bennyama” was taken from a surveillance videotape from a downtown business, the day after police asked for the public’s help in locating Ebony Carter, now missing for more than three days.
Police received numerous tips Wednesday, said Sgt. Kurt Svardal, one leading to the image of Bennyama, who is also being sought in an attempted kidnapping that occurred Saturday. A woman reported that a black man tried to force her into a white van as she walked in the parking lot of McDonald’s on First Street.
“She positively identified him as the one who tried to force her into the car,” Svardal said. “We took the same photo to (Carter’s) family members. They say this is the guy we’re referring to as Bennyama, but do not know him personally, Svardal said.
“So we are now wanting to identify this person for Saturday’s incident, and we also want to question him about this girl that we don’t know where she’s at.”
Bennyama is described as a black man between 20 and 30 years old, 5’11” to 6′, roughly 200 pounds, with brown eyes and shoulder length, curly black hair. “Bennyama” could be a first name, last name or nickname.
Police believe he was driving a white, older model van with white panels and tinted windows.
Carter’s family members reported seeing Bennyama in the van on Sunday, before Carter went missing.
The man tried to contact her Sunday before she went missing, but “she didn’t want anything to do with it,” Svardal said.
Later that day, just before 2pm, Carter’s family dropped her off at the bus depot on Monterey Street so she could return to the San Mateo County group home where she lived. She never returned to the home, though, and Gilroy police and the San Mateo Sheriff’s Office initiated a missing persons case.
On Tuesday, Carter called the group home distraught and said she was being held against her will. Gilroy police tried calling her back, eventually connecting for a brief conversation.
“She was crying, upset, said she was being held against her will,” Svardal said.
Carter did not say who was holding her. Police have repeatedly called the girl’s cell phone but have had no contact since Tuesday.
Bennyama’s previous contact with Carter was in San Mateo County and not in this city, Svardal said.
“We don’t believe he’s from Gilroy at all,” he said.
Meanwhile, police are alerting the public of developments in the case as best they can without the initiation of a statewide Amber Alert, which they attempted but could not secure Tuesday.
“The description we have of the car is very generic,” Svardal said. “It’s not specific enough. … If we had a license plate, we’d be Amber Alert city, no problem.”
The Gilroy Police Department has initiated a lower-level alert system and continues to contact local media.
Most Amber Alerts include more specific vehicle, as well as suspect information to meet California Highway Patrol criteria, according Bryant Harper, the founder of Code Amber, which posts alert information online. Most alerts also are made within three hours of a child’s disappearance, he said.
Police had no immediate indications of foul play in Carter’s case.
“The original missing persons report was, she was 16 years old, she didn’t return to the group home, so nothing indicated that there was a problem,” Svardal said. “It was when she placed a phone call that said, ‘I’m being held against my will,’ that we started to realize there’s a problem.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Gilroy Police Department at 846-0350.
