Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 20, 1990 TAG: 9006200389
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B6 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium
"This is a tough one. She's totally disabled. She cannot speak, walk or do anything," Portsmouth police Detective Karl Morrisette said of Jennifer Melissa Ball, 14, who was abducted Tuesday night from Holiday House.
Police believe the suspect may have been a sailor from the USS Coral Sea or someone recently released from the Navy and possibly headed home to South Carolina, Morrisette said.
A group of Coral Sea sailors had visited the privately run, non-profit home for handicapped children about two years ago as a public-service gesture, Morrisette said.
Several of the sailors returned for visits alone in the months that followed, and Holiday House officials said they thought the person who abducted Jennifer was one of the Navy men.
"We do know for a fact that he was here two years ago," the detective said today. "At this point, we don't know what the status of him actually is, but we're checking on it."
According to Morrisette, the man showed up at the house at about 7:30 p.m., telling employees he wanted to bid them farewell on his way home. He left one wing of the facility, saying he wanted to say goodbye to occupants in the other wing.
"Someone saw him leaving the place carrying what looked like a person covered in a sheet," Morrisette said. "He just picked her up and carried her out."
Employees told police the man had visited the home as recently as two weeks ago to see Jennifer, a 5-foot-10 brunette who weighs 70 pounds.
"She's mentally retarded, she has cerebral palsy, she has scoliosis," Morrisette said. The child needs to have anti-seizure medicine administered twice daily, he said.
"Without that medication, those seizures are likely to increase and could be fatal," he said.
Authorities believe the suspect is of Spanish-American descent, 28, 5-foot-7 and weighs about 150 pounds. He was driving a light blue hatchback, possibly a Honda. The vehicle had a luggage rack on its roof and out-of-state license tags that witnesses believe are from South Carolina. The numbers "6" and "8" were visible on the tags, Morrisette said.
Police in Virginia and neighboring states, including South Carolina, have been put on the alert for the vehicle, he said.
Jennifer had been a resident at Holiday House since 1986, he said.
The facility houses 14 handicapped children in each of its two wings.
by CNB