The Caldwell County Sheriff's Office is working to identify and arrest the man who kidnapped and stabbed a Caldwell County woman Sunday.
The 47-year-old victim told investigators she was leaving her daughter's home in Sawmills at about 1:30 a.m. when she was approached by a man she'd never met who asked her for help, said B.J. Fore of the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office.
He brandished a knife as he approached her vehicle. He reached into her car, turned it off and took the keys out of the ignition. Then he got into the passenger seat and told the woman to drive toward Interstate 40.
She drove west for hours on I-40, Fore said.
That afternoon, the man ordered her to turn onto a dead-end pull-off in Sylva.
The woman told investigators he made her get out of the car and walk into the woods with him.
Once they were in the woods, the victim started to fight with him. He stabbed her twice, and she passed out.
She told investigators that when she woke up, the man was gone and she discovered he'd left her car behind with the keys in it, Fore said.
She got in her car and drove to a local shopping center where she called for help.
Her stab wounds were not life-threatening, and she was treated and released at Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva, Fore said, adding that the victim does not appear to have been sexually assaulted.
The suspect is described as a white male in his mid-30s with distinctive feminine eyes, Fore said. The victim said her abductor is about 5-feet 9-inches tall with a slender build and a potbelly.
Fore said it is not known if the suspect is local, and the motive for the abduction and attack is unclear.
The Caldwell County Sheriff's Office is investigating the case in cooperation with the Jackson County Sheriff's Office. An artist provided by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division drew a composite sketch.
Anyone with any information about the identity of the suspect is asked to call Detective Shelly Hartley with the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office at 759-1526 or Lenoir/Caldwell County Crimestoppers at 758-8300.
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