Woman Raped, Locked in Trunk of Car for 38 Hours; 2 Arrested

Police in Norwalk arrested two men Monday on suspicion of kidnaping and raping a woman, who was then locked in the trunk of a car for 38 hours before being freed, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.

The woman, who lives in Downey, was treated and released from St. Mary’s Hospital in Long Beach, Deputy Van Mosley said.

The names of the suspects were withheld pending an identification by the victim.

The woman was driving north on the San Gabriel River Freeway at 1:30 a.m. Saturday, when her car was hit from behind by another car, Mosley said. The two cars got off the freeway on Imperial Highway in Norwalk, presumably to exchange information, he said.

However, the two men grabbed the woman, beat her and threw her into their car, Mosley said.

She was driven to an unknown location and raped by both men, he said. Then she was forced into the trunk of the car, which was abandoned in the 800 block of Vreeland Avenue in Wilmington, Mosley said.

About 4 p.m. Sunday, 38 hours after she was abducted, the woman heard a passer-by and pounded on the trunk lid. The passer-by heard her and called paramedics.

The Signal Hill Police Department was called late Sunday night about two men acting suspiciously around a parked car in Norwalk, Mosley said. The car turned out to be that of the victim and the officers arrested the men.