astara
December 9th, 2007, 05:49 AM
Toledo lawyer says she was kidnapped
McConnell Hancock found near Atlanta
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Judge C. Allen McConnell, left, father of Karyn McConnell Hancock, and her husband, Lawrence Hancock, gather at Genesis Dreamplex after learning the Toledo attorney has been located near Atlanta.
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By IGNAZIO MESSINA (imessina@theblade.com)
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Toledo lawyer Karyn McConnell Hancock, who had been missing since Wednesday, told police she had been kidnapped after turning up yesterday morning outside an amusement park in Georgia.
Toledo Police Chief Mike Navarre said Ms. McConnell Hancock, who is six months pregnant, flagged down a motorist behind the Six Flags Over Georgia park in Cobb County, Georgia, about 14 miles northwest of Atlanta.
“She reported to the Cobb County police that she had been kidnapped by two men and a woman,” the chief said. “They put her out of the car, she started to walk, and walked for a while and got tired, [and] sat down by a tree.”
Cobb County Police Sgt. Dana Pierce said Ms. McConnell Hancock, 35, who is a former Toledo city councilman, identified her abductors as two white men and a black woman.
Ms. McConnell Hancock wandered to a back gate of the Six Flags park after the abductors let her out of a vehicle, Sergeant Pierce said.
Cobb County Police Sgt. Tom Elledge said the motorist who found Ms. McConnell Hancock is a security officer for the amusement park.
“She was in good condition this morning, other than being a little shaken up, there was no other problem,” Sergeant Elledge said.
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Cobb County police in Georgia say Karyn McConnell Hancock of Toledo told them two men and a woman abducted her and left her near an amusement park.
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There were no suspects last night in the incident, authorities said.
Police in Georgia identified her as a missing person from her driver’s license, which she had with her, Chief Navarre said.
The FBI, which usually investigates kidnappings, especially those that cross state lines, has turned the investigation back over to Toledo police.
Chief Navarre would not comment on any of the details Ms. McConnell Hancock gave to Cobb County police during an interview.
He said the department would handle the case as a kidnapping until there is “reason to treat it otherwise.”
Ms. McConnell Hancock’s 2005 black Chrysler 300 was found at 2 p.m. yesterday on eastbound I-20, between Thornton and Factory Shoals roads, about 1½ miles from where she was found, according to police. The car was being processed by police investigators, and a condition of the car was unavailable.
“We are very, very grateful to God. This is truly a miracle,” said her husband, Lawrence Hancock.
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Toledo police Chief Mike Navarre, second from left, holds a news conference at the Safety Building with Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, left, Councilman Michael Ashford, and Councilman Wilma Brown to announce that Karyn McConnell Hancock was found.
( THE BLADE/LORI KING )
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Ms. McConnell Hancock was put on a plane yesterday to come home to Toledo, Mr. Hancock said, declining to confirm last night if she was back in the city.
He added: “She’s fatigued, she is very, very fatigued, very emotional as you might imagine. … There is no reason to believe there is anything that’s happened to the baby. The baby is still kicking. I did ask her that.”
Mr. Hancock, who is bishop of Final Harvest Church, said when he spoke to his wife they did not talk about what happened during her disappearance.
Chief Navarre said Ms. McConnell Hancock called her husband’s cell phone at 1:34 p.m. Thursday — 15 hours after she was reported missing — and told him she had been kidnapped from near the Juvenile Justice Center building downtown. The phone call lasted nearly two minutes, and authorities were unable to trace it.
Mr. Hancock said he was hysterical when he received the phone call Thursday. He did not know where his wife was when the call was made. It ended with her saying “they were coming,” Mr. Hancock said.
Ms. McConnell Hancock’s father, Toledo Municipal Judge C. Allen, said he was thankful for help the family received from across the nation.
“We’ve all been just in a distress,” Judge McConnell said. “We need a little time to figure out what went wrong, what happened.”
Ms. McConnell Hancock was last seen at her office at 316 North Michigan St. in downtown Toledo about 9 a.m. Wednesday before she left to attend to a case at the Lucas County Juvenile Justice Center, police said.
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Sharon Green-Gaines, godmother of attorney Karyn McConnell Hancock, and her husband, Jimmy Gaines, react to news that Ms. McConnell Hancock was found alive near Atlanta.
( THE BLADE/LORI KING )
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About 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, Mr. Hancock received a call from his son’s day care notifying him that his child had not been picked up, police said.
Mr. Hancock told police he has tried repeatedly to contact his wife on her cell phone but said it had been shut off.
He also checked at her office and said her vehicle was not there.
Mr. Hancock told police that one of his wife’s clients recently has become aggressive toward her and she had been receiving suspicious phone calls.
Ms. McConnell Hancock was sued in Lucas County Common Pleas Court Nov. 27 by a former client who claimed she negotiated a settlement for his car crash but never gave him the money.
Chief Navarre declined to comment about the suspicious phone calls or the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Ms. McConnell Hancock represented Maurice Morris of Toledo after he was hurt in a crash in 2004. The suit said Ms. McConnell Hancock negotiated a settlement without Mr. Morris’ knowledge with the insurance company in the amount of $10,000.
Mr. Morris further claims he was never given the check, and instead, it was “forged by either the Defendant Karyn Richelle McConnell, or by persons within her employment at the law firm of Karyn McConnell Hancock Co., LPA.” The suit, assigned to Judge Denise Ann Dartt, asks for damages in excess of $50,000.
Ms. McConnell Hancock’s godmother, Sharon Green-Gaines, said the suit is without merit.
Mr. Hancock yesterday said a police report that indicated he said a piece of luggage was missing from their home was incorrect.
“[Police] came to my house and asked if any luggage was missing and I said no,” he said. “It was a communication error.”
Mr. Hancock said he looked, while police where in the home, for a small bag his wife would often use.
“I found the bag and told them there was none missing,” he said.
Her debit card was used to make a withdrawal of “several hundred dollars” Wednesday night, Mr. Hancock told police.
Mayor Carty Finkbeiner thanked law enforcement authorities locally and in Georgia.
“The most important thing now is the McConnell family and all of Karyn McConnell’s friends have her back or will have her back very shortly, and Christmas is going to be a very wonderful Christmas,” Mr. Finkbeiner said during a morning news conference.
Toledo police notified law enforcement agencies across the nation of Ms. Hancock’s disappearance through a bulletin sent out by the National Crime Information Center.
Alerts are not usually sent until an adult has been missing for 72 hours. The nationwide broadcast of Ms. Hancock’s disappearance was made 39 hours after the initial missing person report.
On Friday, FBI agents searched around Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Authorities also searched other areas including in Detroit and Canada.
McConnell Hancock found near Atlanta
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Judge C. Allen McConnell, left, father of Karyn McConnell Hancock, and her husband, Lawrence Hancock, gather at Genesis Dreamplex after learning the Toledo attorney has been located near Atlanta.
( THE BLADE/LORI KING )
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By IGNAZIO MESSINA (imessina@theblade.com)
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Toledo lawyer Karyn McConnell Hancock, who had been missing since Wednesday, told police she had been kidnapped after turning up yesterday morning outside an amusement park in Georgia.
Toledo Police Chief Mike Navarre said Ms. McConnell Hancock, who is six months pregnant, flagged down a motorist behind the Six Flags Over Georgia park in Cobb County, Georgia, about 14 miles northwest of Atlanta.
“She reported to the Cobb County police that she had been kidnapped by two men and a woman,” the chief said. “They put her out of the car, she started to walk, and walked for a while and got tired, [and] sat down by a tree.”
Cobb County Police Sgt. Dana Pierce said Ms. McConnell Hancock, 35, who is a former Toledo city councilman, identified her abductors as two white men and a black woman.
Ms. McConnell Hancock wandered to a back gate of the Six Flags park after the abductors let her out of a vehicle, Sergeant Pierce said.
Cobb County Police Sgt. Tom Elledge said the motorist who found Ms. McConnell Hancock is a security officer for the amusement park.
“She was in good condition this morning, other than being a little shaken up, there was no other problem,” Sergeant Elledge said.
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Cobb County police in Georgia say Karyn McConnell Hancock of Toledo told them two men and a woman abducted her and left her near an amusement park.
http://www.toledoblade.com/images/zoom_photo.gif (javascript:NewWindow(600,400,'/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/templates/zoom.pbs&Site=TO&Date=20071209&Category=NEWS03&ArtNo=71209024&Ref=V2');) Zoom (javascript:NewWindow(600,400,'/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/templates/zoom.pbs&Site=TO&Date=20071209&Category=NEWS03&ArtNo=71209024&Ref=V2');) | Photo Reprints (http://www.toledoblade.com/printroom)
There were no suspects last night in the incident, authorities said.
Police in Georgia identified her as a missing person from her driver’s license, which she had with her, Chief Navarre said.
The FBI, which usually investigates kidnappings, especially those that cross state lines, has turned the investigation back over to Toledo police.
Chief Navarre would not comment on any of the details Ms. McConnell Hancock gave to Cobb County police during an interview.
He said the department would handle the case as a kidnapping until there is “reason to treat it otherwise.”
Ms. McConnell Hancock’s 2005 black Chrysler 300 was found at 2 p.m. yesterday on eastbound I-20, between Thornton and Factory Shoals roads, about 1½ miles from where she was found, according to police. The car was being processed by police investigators, and a condition of the car was unavailable.
“We are very, very grateful to God. This is truly a miracle,” said her husband, Lawrence Hancock.
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Toledo police Chief Mike Navarre, second from left, holds a news conference at the Safety Building with Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, left, Councilman Michael Ashford, and Councilman Wilma Brown to announce that Karyn McConnell Hancock was found.
( THE BLADE/LORI KING )
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Ms. McConnell Hancock was put on a plane yesterday to come home to Toledo, Mr. Hancock said, declining to confirm last night if she was back in the city.
He added: “She’s fatigued, she is very, very fatigued, very emotional as you might imagine. … There is no reason to believe there is anything that’s happened to the baby. The baby is still kicking. I did ask her that.”
Mr. Hancock, who is bishop of Final Harvest Church, said when he spoke to his wife they did not talk about what happened during her disappearance.
Chief Navarre said Ms. McConnell Hancock called her husband’s cell phone at 1:34 p.m. Thursday — 15 hours after she was reported missing — and told him she had been kidnapped from near the Juvenile Justice Center building downtown. The phone call lasted nearly two minutes, and authorities were unable to trace it.
Mr. Hancock said he was hysterical when he received the phone call Thursday. He did not know where his wife was when the call was made. It ended with her saying “they were coming,” Mr. Hancock said.
Ms. McConnell Hancock’s father, Toledo Municipal Judge C. Allen, said he was thankful for help the family received from across the nation.
“We’ve all been just in a distress,” Judge McConnell said. “We need a little time to figure out what went wrong, what happened.”
Ms. McConnell Hancock was last seen at her office at 316 North Michigan St. in downtown Toledo about 9 a.m. Wednesday before she left to attend to a case at the Lucas County Juvenile Justice Center, police said.
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(javascript:NewWindow(600,400,'/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/templates/zoom.pbs&Site=TO&Date=20071209&Category=NEWS03&ArtNo=71209024&Ref=V4');)
Sharon Green-Gaines, godmother of attorney Karyn McConnell Hancock, and her husband, Jimmy Gaines, react to news that Ms. McConnell Hancock was found alive near Atlanta.
( THE BLADE/LORI KING )
http://www.toledoblade.com/images/zoom_photo.gif (javascript:NewWindow(600,400,'/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/templates/zoom.pbs&Site=TO&Date=20071209&Category=NEWS03&ArtNo=71209024&Ref=V4');) Zoom (javascript:NewWindow(600,400,'/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/templates/zoom.pbs&Site=TO&Date=20071209&Category=NEWS03&ArtNo=71209024&Ref=V4');) | Photo Reprints (http://www.toledoblade.com/printroom)
About 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, Mr. Hancock received a call from his son’s day care notifying him that his child had not been picked up, police said.
Mr. Hancock told police he has tried repeatedly to contact his wife on her cell phone but said it had been shut off.
He also checked at her office and said her vehicle was not there.
Mr. Hancock told police that one of his wife’s clients recently has become aggressive toward her and she had been receiving suspicious phone calls.
Ms. McConnell Hancock was sued in Lucas County Common Pleas Court Nov. 27 by a former client who claimed she negotiated a settlement for his car crash but never gave him the money.
Chief Navarre declined to comment about the suspicious phone calls or the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Ms. McConnell Hancock represented Maurice Morris of Toledo after he was hurt in a crash in 2004. The suit said Ms. McConnell Hancock negotiated a settlement without Mr. Morris’ knowledge with the insurance company in the amount of $10,000.
Mr. Morris further claims he was never given the check, and instead, it was “forged by either the Defendant Karyn Richelle McConnell, or by persons within her employment at the law firm of Karyn McConnell Hancock Co., LPA.” The suit, assigned to Judge Denise Ann Dartt, asks for damages in excess of $50,000.
Ms. McConnell Hancock’s godmother, Sharon Green-Gaines, said the suit is without merit.
Mr. Hancock yesterday said a police report that indicated he said a piece of luggage was missing from their home was incorrect.
“[Police] came to my house and asked if any luggage was missing and I said no,” he said. “It was a communication error.”
Mr. Hancock said he looked, while police where in the home, for a small bag his wife would often use.
“I found the bag and told them there was none missing,” he said.
Her debit card was used to make a withdrawal of “several hundred dollars” Wednesday night, Mr. Hancock told police.
Mayor Carty Finkbeiner thanked law enforcement authorities locally and in Georgia.
“The most important thing now is the McConnell family and all of Karyn McConnell’s friends have her back or will have her back very shortly, and Christmas is going to be a very wonderful Christmas,” Mr. Finkbeiner said during a morning news conference.
Toledo police notified law enforcement agencies across the nation of Ms. Hancock’s disappearance through a bulletin sent out by the National Crime Information Center.
Alerts are not usually sent until an adult has been missing for 72 hours. The nationwide broadcast of Ms. Hancock’s disappearance was made 39 hours after the initial missing person report.
On Friday, FBI agents searched around Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Authorities also searched other areas including in Detroit and Canada.