Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 21, 1993 TAG: 9309210117
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Sheriff's deputies searched a wooded area north of Fincastle where they found clothing, scattered blood and "what we believe to be a weapon," according to Botetourt County Sheriff Reed Kelly.
The girl had not been found Monday night.
William R. Layne, 40, has been charged with abduction and was in the custody of Rockbridge County authorities.
Police gave the following account:
Phadra Dannielle Carter, 11, was taken from her Rockbridge mobile home between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Saturday.
"A neighbor saw someone leading a small girl up the road," Capt. Chris Blalock with the Rockbridge County Sheriff's Department said. Witnesses in the mobile-home park gave authorities a description of a man that fit the suspect, Blalock said.
The Sheriff's Department alerted other law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for Layne, who is the brother of Phadra's stepfather, and a warrant was issued for his arrest, Blalock said.
Monday morning, a citizen spotted a pickup truck matching the description of Layne's heading south on Interstate 81 and called state police.
At approximately 8 a.m., Smyth County authorities arrested Layne near Marion. Layne was taken to a hospital for hair and blood samples and other tests for potential evidence, Blalock said.
Blalock and another deputy were taking the suspect back to Rockbridge County Jail Monday evening.
Authorities spent most of Monday searching an area off Virginia 667, north of Fincastle, a couple of miles from where Layne had been living with another brother.
They found what appeared to be drag marks in a gravel road, and bloody clothing nearby, Kelly said. The clothes were sent to a state laboratory in Roanoke where authorities will work overnight to type the blood, Kelly said.
"I just think that there's a citizen somewhere that has seen this little girl. I just think somebody is going to help us. I just keep hoping," the sheriff said Monday night.
Phadra was to have been a flower girl in her biological father's wedding on the day she disappeared. She lives with her mother and stepfather, but Blalock said that Layne had not been staying overnight nor visiting with the family at the time of the girl's abduction.
She is 4 feet 11 inches tall, weighs 78 pounds, has brown eyes and hair, and a fair complexion. She has a scar on her left knee. Anyone seeing a girl matching this description should call their police department.
Layne is on parole from the Bland Correctional Center after serving eight years on charges of breaking and entering and grand larceny. He was released in December.
Staff writer Mike Hudson and the Associated Press contributed information for this story.
by CNB