22-year-old woman abducted in Germantown on Sunday night [updated with video]

A 22-year-old woman was forced into a car and abducted from the 100 block of W. Coulter St. on Sunday night, and police are seeking the public’s help to find her.

A witness reported hearing Carlesha Freeland-Gaither yelling for help as she was forced into a four-door sedan around 9:40 p.m.

Freeland-Gaither, of the 100 block of W. Hansberry St., dropped her eyeglasses and cell phone into the street, and kicked out the driver-side rear window, before the car pulled away.

Family reaction

According to Freeland-Gaither’s mother Keisha, her daughter was heading home from visiting her godson on Sunday night.

“She was three blocks away from home when they got her,” Keisha told NewsWorks on Monday.

At the time of the abduction, Freeland-Gaither was wearing light blue jeans, a grey and white sweater, jean jacket and tan shoes, according to her family.

Suspect and vehicle

Police released descriptions of the vehicle and alleged kidnapper on Monday afternoon.

The suspect is a 5-foot 10-inch tall black male in his late twenties with a medium to heavy build. He was wearing a dark colored jacket with a dark-colored hood (possibly a hooded sweatshirt) underneath, dark-colored hat and dark-colored pants at the time.

The vehicle is a 2000-2002 dark-grey, four-door Ford Taurus with unknown plates. It’s missing its inspection stickers, police said.

Investigators ask anyone with information about the case, or suspects, to call Northwest Detective Division at (215) 686-3353/54 or the tips line at (215) 686-TIPS, text a tip to PPD TIP (773847) or send it in via the department’s website.

The family also asks anyone with information to contact them at (215) 200-6123.

7 p.m. update

Lt. John Stanford, the police department’s public-information officer, announced Monday night that “Mayor Michael A. Nutter has approved a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction regarding the abduction case which took place last night at 100 W. Coulter St.”

On Tuesday morning, Stanford sent out a Tweet noting that Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 has added $5,000 to that reward total with an “arrest made today, get paid today” caveat.