Woman Kidnapped, Raped at Gunpoint

Saraosta Police and Manatee County deputies are searching for two men in a black Jeep Cherokee who allegedly kidnapped a woman from Sarasota and brought her to a Bradenton house, where she was sexually assaulted repeatedly.

The 33-year-old victim was taken to the hospital for treatment, after a deputy saw her walking in the 200 block of 13th Avenue West early this morning.

The woman told authorities that two men driving a Jeep Cherokee around Myrtle Street and U.S. 41 in Sarasota pulled out a gun and forced her to get into their car at about 7 p.m. Thursday night. The men drove her to a house in Bradenton, but she wasn't sure where she was taken, according to a report from the Manatee County Sheriff's office.

The men blindfolded her and took turns sexually assaulting her throughout the night. She told deputies that both men also repreatedly threatened her.

At around 4 this morning, the men put her back in the Jeep and drove her around. They finally let her out of the Jeep in the 200 block of 13^th Ave. W.

A deputy who was driving home after a shift saw the woman and stopped to help her. She was taken to the hospital for treatment.

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office will release additional information on the suspects as it becomes avaialble.

The Sarasota Police Department is working on the abduction case, and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the sexual battery. 

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call MSO at 941-747-3011 or Crime Stoppers at 866-634-TIPS.