Authorities are investigating after cellphone video emerged in which a woman is heard fervently screaming for help from a van that fled in Santa Clarita last week.
The nearly two minutes of footage was recorded by a bystander the evening of Aug. 12 in a residential area of Newhall, near the corner of Calgrove Boulevard and Creekside Drive, the Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said in a crime bulletin.
A woman is heard pleading for help alongside a man’s voice saying, “Come on, honey.” A man in the van can also be heard calling for a dog named Jake at one point in the video.
The person recording can be heard yelling, “Stop,” as he asks someone else nearby to call 911, telling them, “They’re abducting her.”
“What are you doing? Why are you doing this?” the man recording shouts at the van shortly before it drives away.
Sheriff’s officials say they’re investigating it as a suspicious circumstances case.
Detectives describe the vehicle involved as a light-colored commercial van resembling a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter with after-market solar panels and an air-conditioning unit installed on its roof.
The Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help in providing information on the van and its occupants.
Anyone with information can contact sheriff’s Detective David Nisenoff at 661-799-5805. Anonymous tips may be submitted via 800-222-8477 or www.lacrimestoppers.org.