The Santee Police Department and the State Law Enforcement Division are at a standstill in the investigation of the alleged kidnapping of an employee of the Quality Inn and Suites in Santee on Thursday night.

The investigation is stalled, according to Santee Police Chief Robert Williams, because of the reluctance of the victim to fully cooperate with law enforcement.

The 33-year-old employee has told authorities he was “forcibly” taken from the motel by some individuals and driven in his 2003 Saturn van to Interstate 26 and U.S. 301, where his kidnappers robbed him of more than $500, took his driver’s license and left him, Williams said.

The employee’s only description of the men responsible is that they were black and wearing blue jeans and tennis shoes, Williams said.

The employee told police he was frightened after the incident and drove to his brother’s house in Dade County, Fla. He also told police he still had $300 with him that the kidnappers failed to take, the chief said.

Williams said something about the employee’s story “is wrong” and he believes there is more to the story.

The employee’s alleged ordeal started after he talked with his wife on the phone Thursday around 11:10 p.m., Williams said. He said the employee, who has been working at Quality Inn and Suites since November, had been staying in a room at the motel until his wife and twins could move to Manning from Michigan.

Shortly after talking with his wife Thursday, Williams said the employee told the desk clerk that he saw some individuals at the northeast corner of the motel and that he’d seen them there before and was going out to confront them. The desk clerk said the employee told her to call police before he went outside to talk with the individuals, the police chief said.

But when police arrived, the employee and his 2003 Saturn were gone, Williams said.

The employee’s wife and children arrived at the motel later that morning, and one of the children found his cell phone on the walkway outside near the door to his motel room, the chief said. Williams said the employee’s wife called police at around 2:40 a.m. Friday to report that her husband was still missing.

Then on Saturday, the employee’s brother in Dade County, Fla. called the employee’s wife to tell her that her husband was at his home, Williams said. When police learned from the employee’s wife of his whereabouts, they called him. He said he had been kidnapped and that when his kidnappers left him at I-26 and 301, they warned him they knew where he lived, indicating they would harm him and his family. He said he was afraid for his family’s safety and his own, so he drove to his brother’s in Florida.

Williams said he and the SLED agent on the case asked the employee to go to local law enforcement and have them contact South Carolina authorities to let them know he was, indeed, all right and unharmed, which he said the employee did. They even e-mailed a photo of the employee standing next to his van to local investigators, Williams said.

“We tried to persuade him to come home and even told him we would bring his family to him, but he said he’s afraid if he returns, they’ll hurt his family,” Williams said. “At first, he would only say he was in the Florida area. He just kept refusing to come home. His wife was in disbelief that he wouldn’t return home.”

The next step in the investigation depends on the employee, Williams said.

“We can’t do anything without him,” the Santee police chief said.

T&D Region Editor Carol Barker can be reached by e-mail at cbarker@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5525. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

You must be logged in to comment.