Ex-USC Football Player Sought in Kidnaping

Police are looking for a former USC football player who they say kidnaped and beat his ex-girlfriend the day after he was freed on bail after another alleged assault on the Redondo Beach woman.

Jeff Maree, 25, has not been seen since he released Laura Zovitch, 20, in front of a Torrance restaurant May 8, said Manhattan Beach Police Detective Fred McKewen. Authorities say that Maree, who was a reserve defensive back for USC from 1985 to 1987, abducted Zovitch at gunpoint May 7 in Manhattan Beach and drove her to Tijuana before releasing her the next day. Along the way, Maree punched Zovitch so hard that two of her teeth later had to be pulled, police said.

In April, Maree was charged with assault and battery for allegedly beating Zovitch at the apartment they once shared in Redondo Beach. He was released on $2,500 bail on May 6.