Havre de Grace Woman Helped Find Suspect in Philadelphia Abduction: Officials

A Havre de Grace woman provided information to police this week that helped guide authorities to a woman who had been abducted in Philadelphia, officials said.

At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, a Havre de Grace woman called police and reported that she had found broken glass and a receipt from Philadelphia in her driveway, according to court documents.

She initially found the items at 8 a.m. on Monday and called police Tuesday after hearing media reports about the abduction of Carlesha Freeland-Gaither, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Freeland-Gaither, 22, was grabbed two blocks from her home in Philadelphia Sunday night and forced into a vehicle, where she kicked out a rear passenger window as the driver sped off, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court of Eastern Pennsylvania. Her ATM card was used Monday morning off Beards Hill Road in Aberdeen, police said.

Related: Aberdeen ATM Transaction Linked to Abducted Philadelphia Woman

At the “dark and rural location” where the Havre de Grace tipster lived, authorities found a cut zip-tie, broken glass, stretched-out keychain, candy wrappers, Herr’s sour cream and onion potato chips bag and a receipt from an Acme store in Philadelphia, the court document stated.

Authorities contacted the Acme store and sent images from the store’s surveillance footage to other law enforcement agencies and media in hopes of identifying the man, court documents said.

The Charles City County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, which had a warrant for a man in connection with a similar incident, contacted police and identified him as Delvin Barnes, the statement said.

Barnes, 37, of Charles City County, was wanted in connection with the abduction and sexual assault of a 16-year-old in Richmond, VA, on Oct. 1, for which he is facing attempted murder and sexual assault charges, according to USA Today.

In that case, the teen was found a day and a half after she disappeared, ABC News reported. She said Barnes hit her in the head with a shovel, put her in his trunk, then took her to his home where he made her take off her clothes, which he burned, and was digging a hole that he said was going to be her grave when she escaped and ran to a nearby business, naked and battered, CBS reported. According to the news station, she is still in the hospital undergoing rehab.

On Oct. 28, the Charles City County Sheriff’s Office issued an arrest warrant for Barnes for kidnapping, rape and other charges, according to court documents.

Through investigation, the sheriff’s office found that a gray 2003 Ford Taurus was registered to Barnes in Virginia, court documents said.

Police spotted the car dealership’s name in a traffic camera image and contacted the dealer, who said because of Barnes’ bad credit history, a GPS was installed in the vehicle in case it may need to be repossessed, USA Today reported. Law enforcement asked for the GPS to be turned on so police could track his location, which led authorities to Jessup, according to the newspaper.

When police located the vehicle in Jessup, Barnes was in the back seat lying next to the victim, court documents state. He was taken into custody at approximately 6 p.m. on Wednesday, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.

Related: Woman Found in Jessup After Abduction in Philadelphia

Court documents state that Barnes admitted to abducting Freeland-Gaither, who was a stranger to him, and taking her to Aberdeen,

After being treated for minor injuries at Howard County General Hospital in Columbia, Freeland-Gaither returned home to Philadelphia Thursday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Following a brief court appearance in Towson, Barnes was taken overnight to Virginia in connection with the charges from October. He cursed at reporters when he arrived at the Charles City County Sheriff’s Office, according to ABC News.

He has also been charged with abducting and kidnapping Freeland-Gaither in Philadelphia and willfully transporting her across state lines into Maryland.

Pictured, Delvin Barnes, 37.