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Police in Catawba and Gaston counties are looking for a suspect after an 18-year-old woman was carjacked and kidnapped early today on the Lenoir-Rhyne University campus, where she works.
The victim, an employee in food services at the Hickory university, was not physically injured.
No students or staff were involved in the incident, a Lenoir-Rhyne spokeswoman said.
Hickory police said the victim, who is from Conover, left work about 12:35 a.m. today from the Bear's Lair restaurant on campus. When she got into her car, she discovered a man hiding inside. The woman told police that the man pulled a handgun and demanded that she drive him to Cherryville, in Gaston County.
At some point during the 35-mile trip, police say, the young woman was able to use her cell phone and contact a brother in Virginia. He, in turn, called the victim's father in Conover, and he called Hickory police.
When the woman arrived in Cherryville, she said, the gunman met another man. The gunman got out of the woman's car, got in the other man's red pickup truck, and they drove off.
Hickory police are checking the woman's car for evidence and are looking at surveillance tape from the university campus.
A spokeswoman from Lenoir-Rhyne University said the victim worked for Aramark, which provides food services at the university. She said campus police are working with Hickory police on the case.
The suspect is described as a slender black male, about 5 feet 8 to 6 feet tall, with a long, thick beard that touched his chest. He also has long dreadlocks that reach his shoulders. The man was wearing black clothing.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to call Hickory police, 828-261-2600.
