Sailor’s Abduction Baffles Police : Was Bound, Photographed Nude, He Tells Authorities

A sailor found on a San Clemente street bound and gagged and wearing only underwear late Tuesday night told police a bizarre story of kidnaping.

Casey C. Dowling, 19, who police said was found in tears around 11 p.m. Tuesday by a motorist on Avenida Pico, was back in San Diego Wednesday, where Navy medics examined him and found him “to be in good condition,” said Lt. Barton Buechner of the U.S. Naval Training Center.

“He’s a scared young man, but he’s in good condition,” Buechner said.

But San Clemente police Wednesday remained baffled by Dowling’s story, which they said they are continuing to investigate.

“This is a strange one. I don’t even know where to begin. Are you ready?” asked San Clemente Lt. Al Ehlow.

Dowling told police he was on his way to the base from his parents’ home in La Mirada about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday when he stopped at a gas station in San Clemente to use the lavatory.

Upon returning to his car, Dowling said, he was grabbed from behind in a chokehold. He saw only a white arm around his neck before he blacked out, he said.

He awoke nude in a car trunk, he said, his hands bound behind his back and his ankles bound by some type of soft straps. Duct tape had been wrapped completely around his head, he said. Ehlow said Dowling reported hearing people talking when the car trunk was opened but could not discern what they were saying.

The car apparently traveled on the freeway and on city streets, he told police. At one point, the car stopped, the trunk was opened and he heard the clicking sounds of a camera--”like they’re taking pictures of him,” Ehlow said.

Eventually, the soft straps were removed and replaced with rope. Sometime during the night he was driven to Avenida Pico, where he was dropped off a dirt embankment. Dowling managed to crawl up the embankment onto the road and he chewed away part of the tape covering his mouth.

Christopher L. Albright was on his way home around 11 p.m. when he spotted the young man. Albright--not quite believing what he had just seen--made a U-turn and put his headlights on Dowling, police said.

“He yelled to get help and I was going to do that, but I thought someone would run over him. So I went to get some blankets and covered him up.

“The only thing I know about him was that he was upset; he was in tears,” said Albright, 32, of San Clemente. “He kind of mumbled a little bit. It looked like he was almost in a state of shock. After I covered him with a blanket, he started shivering.”

Police said they believe Dowling’s story but know no motive for the abduction.

As of Wednesday evening, police had not found Dowling’s clothes or wallet, containing $50. They also could not explain several related matters, among them why he said he was nude in the trunk but was found wearing underwear.