Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies kept up the search Monday for three men who kidnapped and raped a teenage girl in the unincorporated southern San Gabriel Valley community of Bassett before releasing her in the same area, officials said.
The suspects were in an older-model compact, possibly a 1990s black Honda Civic that stopped in the 600 block of Van Wig Avenue, where the girl was walking about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, said Deputy Amber Smith of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
The vehicle drove past her and parked a few feet in front of her, Smith said. Two suspects got out of the car and the third remained in the driver’s seat.
“As she walked past them, she was grabbed from behind and pulled into the vehicle by the two suspects,” the deputy said. “The victim told detectives she was sexually assaulted, then released.”
The victim told detectives she was released on Van Wig Avenue, near where she was abducted, Smith said.
Two of the suspects were described as men between 20 and 27 years old. The first three letters of the black Honda’s license plate may be “2WE,”Smith said.
Anyone with information about the case was urged to contact the sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau hotline at (877) 710-5273. Anonymous tips can be provided by calling Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.
—City News Service