Inset: Shawn Prince (Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office). The Pennsylvania street where Prince is alleged to have abducted a woman earlier this week (Google Maps).
Pennsylvania authorities are on the lookout for a 29-year-old man accused of abducting a woman at gunpoint, forcing her to remain in the woods overnight, after threatening harm to a child.
Shawn Prince is currently facing charges of kidnapping, simple assault, making terroristic threats, and harassment. The victim managed to escape when Prince began “nodding off” and compelled her to drive. This was reported by the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office in a news release. The investigation into Prince commenced on Wednesday after the Scottdale Police Department received a call from the victim’s family requesting a welfare check at the victim’s Jennings Avenue home, approximately 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
The family members expressed worry as they had not heard from the victim since Monday, soon after a “previous domestic incident” involving the victim and Prince, prompting police intervention. This lack of communication raised alarms about her safety.
Upon reaching the residence, police found the door ajar and the victim’s phone inside, yet the house was vacant. While at the scene, officers received information that the victim had called 911 and was at the police station.
During a subsequent interview, the victim alleged that Prince “kidnapped her” shortly after police officers departed from their earlier domestic call. She reported that Prince “threatened to cut her friend’s child’s throat if she didn’t comply and leave with him.”
Prince allegedly drove the victim to a “rural, wooded area she did not recognize and put a gun to her head” after forcing her out of the car and into the woods. The two then stayed in the woods overnight, police said. The following morning, they got back into the car and Prince drove out of the woods.
At some point during the drive, Prince apparently grew drowsy enough that he was unable to drive.
“The victim told officers Prince started nodding off and made the victim drive the vehicle,” the release states. “The victim said she started recognizing her surroundings near Ohiopyle and drove to the Scottdale Police station because she knew where it was located. The victim managed to escape the vehicle and ran to the police department and called 911 as Prince drove away.”
As he was fleeing, Prince allegedly “yelled that he would burn the victim’s house down.”
Police have not disclosed the nature of the relationship between the victim and Prince.
Authorities are still searching for Prince and are urging anyone who knows his whereabouts or has information relevant to the case to contact Scottdale Police at 724-887-8220.
