Witnesses recall the tense moment a teen girl was rescued after she had been held hostage for days near Big Bear Lake.
The victim, identified only as a 17-year-old girl, had allegedly been kidnapped by Zackary Dourousseau, 26, according to the Big Bear Sheriff’s Department.
She was held hostage in Dourousseau’s home for six days until one day she was able to escape.
The suspect had taken the girl with him when driving to work and left her locked inside his truck during the day. She was able to escape from the vehicle and ran into a nearby business, The Crows Nest in Big Bear Village, for help.
Workers who were stunned by her appearance recalled the moment she frantically stumbled into their shop.
“A lady just came in and said she was kidnapped,” said a store employee who did not wish to be identified. “We sat her down and then 15 minutes later, a guy walked by past the windows and she said it was [the suspect], so we took her into the back room.”
The employee said the girl was very stressed out and “looked like she hadn’t been taken care of for a few days.”
According to deputies, on March 1 the teen girl was picked up by Dourousseau who drove her his home where he reportedly asked her for sex.
When she refused, Dourousseau allegedly held the girl captive and refused to let her leave his home for six days.
During that time, the girl was provided with very little food or water while the suspect forced her to consume large amounts of alcohol. He also “forced the girl to have sex with him in exchange for her freedom,” authorities said.
On March 7, he took the girl with him when driving to work and left her locked inside his truck. That’s when she was able to make her escape to safety.
Authorities said Dourousseau and the teen girl reportedly knew each other before the kidnapping.
The suspect’s neighbor, Mike Stilkey, said he spotted a teen girl at his neighbor’s home recently but didn’t realize anything nefarious was going on. However, he did note that things seemed a bit off.
“She looked to be 15-17 maybe,” Stilkey recalled. “Very young and it was kind of suspicious. She was never dressed correctly. She always had men’s clothes on, her hair was always greasy and scraggly and so I thought well maybe that was his girlfriend.”
Dourousseau was later located at his home in the 300 block of Los Angeles Avenue in Sugarloaf, a community less than a mile from Big Bear City, where was taken into custody. He was arrested on charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment and statutory rape.
Neighbors in the area said the suspect’s home was generally a quiet one until about six months ago. The suspect reportedly lived at the home with family members.
“It’s been a totally dysfunctional family over there,” Stilkey said. “Screaming inside the house, disrespecting his mom.”
Stilkey said deputies had been called to the home on several occasions.
He was later released on bail and a court hearing is scheduled for March 18 at the San Bernardino Superior Courthouse.
The incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Big Bear Sheriff’s Station at 909-866-0100.
Anonymous tips can be provided to We-Tip at 1-800-782-7463 or online at wetip.com.