Lt. David Kaiser claimed that while stopping a 41-year-old man for drunk driving, they heard a woman, who was tied up with a bag over her head, screaming for help. According to Kaiser, the woman met the man on Craigslist, and he kidnapped her.
Lt. David Kaiser arrested a man, who kidnapped a woman; he met on Craigslist. On Wednesday, at 2:30 a.m., Lt. David Kaiser along with another member of the Michigan State Police pulled a man over in Shiawassee County because he appeared to be driving while intoxicated.
As Kaiser was questioning Daniel Louis Symons, a 41-year-old man from Chesaning, they heard the voice of a woman coming from the back seat begging for help.
According to Lieutenant David Kaiser, the 22-year-old woman from Okemos, whose name has not been revealed, had a bag over her head, tape over her mouth and her hands were zip-tied behind her back.
She was also kicking the man and the window, which caused him to drive erratically on the road. The woman told the police that she met him online.
The kidnapper had posted an ad on Craigslist that stated that like 50 Shades Of Grey, he was looking for a submissive partner.
The victim explained that when she realized that the man looked nothing like his profile picture, she tried to run away, but he assaulted her and tied her up.
“The young lady answered the ad on Craigslist. She chatted with the person online and agreed to meet him,” Kaiser told a local TV network. “However, the mistake she made was she met him in a remote, secluded area near his home. She got into his vehicle and once they were moving, she realized this guy looked nothing like the picture that he had sent her. Also, the conversation wasn’t anything like it was online.”
The woman, who was not seriously injured, was taken to a nearby hospital, and the man was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and assault by strangulation.
Lt. David Kaiser concluded by saying that the woman is lucky to be alive. Kaiser said this story should be a cautionary tale for women, who are dating online.
“What we learned after this, is the lady is actually very fortunate she wasn’t further assaulted or killed,” Kaiser said. “The man used a fictitious photo, he used a fictitious name and he had a throw-away email account which would make it very difficult for an investigator, had something happened to her, to locate this person.”
“If a person doesn’t want to meet you in a public place, that should be your first red flag that nothing good is going to come of this,” Kaiser warned.
Daniel Louis Symons is still in jail on $500,000 cash bond. Moreover, on June 2, he will appear in front of 66 District Court Judge Terrance P. Dignan, who will determine if there is enough evidence for him to stand trial.
What are your thoughts on this Craigslist date gone wrong? What should women do to be safe in online dating?
