KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 28-year-old woman taken from her home overnight jumped from her abductor’s car to safety, escaping from him twice before she finally reached safety 12 blocks later in the arms of her family.
FOX 4’s Matt Stewart was with Antoinette Leak’s family when she called them to help her.
“We got a call about 6:55, saying ‘I’m at the corner, I can’t walk,'” Leak’s mother said. “And I was like which way? And she said, ‘down the street,’ and so we took off running. She was behind some bushes, legs bruised up, face swollen, blood everywhere. But I am thankful she is okay.”
Stewart and FOX 4 photographer Jim Monteleone ran with the family to where Leak was. They found her standing in a driveway near some bushes, crying and shaking. She was topless and barefoot. A family member ran to her, picked her up and carried her to a car. She was then taken to an area hospital.
She later told police that the man was her ex-boyfriend. She said he drove her around, beating her.
At one point she jumped out of the car, but he grabbed her shirt, ripping it off of her and forced her back into the vehicle.
Antoinette said after her first escape attempt, they continued to drive around for another 30 minutes while the man beat her and threatened to kill her. She later found another opportunity to escape at 75th and Prospect. That’s where she jumped out of the car again, barefoot and topless and ran 12 blocks before calling her family for help.
“She wanted to live,” Darin Snapp, police officer, said. “When you got someone like this threatening your life and actually continuously beating you, you do all you can to survive.”
Snapp said the first escape attempt was unfortunate for the victim as it was so early in the morning.
“She did everything she could the first time, unfortunately no one was around,” he said. “Of course, it’s 3:30, 4 o’clock in the morning, so when she got out there was no one around to help her, so she was caught again, and like I said, she found another opportunity and, thank goodness, it saved her life.”
Prior to her escape, Kansas City Police were looking for Leak after her family notified them of her abduction. They said the man who “snatched” her from her house was a man she went on a few dates with.
Police said around 3:45 a.m., the man went to Leak’s home near 81st and Flora and started banging on the windows and doors. At the time Leak was inside with her three children, boyfriend and other family members. When Leak opened the door, the man — whom the family calls Stephan — grabbed her and forced her into a car.
Antoinette’s family said when Leak’s boyfriend, Travis, called her phone, Stephan answered and told him they would not see her again.
“I know he’s a very evil person, but I never thought he would do something so drastic as this,” said Leak’s mother.
While the family has referred to the suspect by name, police have not released his identity. Police continue to search for him and his burgundy-colored Toyota Camry.
Watch our initial reports: